Baby, You and I
by Violet2389
Summary: This is about Katie, a girl from Forks who falls for a wolf, many problems with their relationship arise as they try to get together. Multiple chapters, please R&R
1. Chapter 1

**New story! This is kind of like my story **_**Imprinted**_**; this is about a girl (my own character) who is in love with a wolf from La Push. I don't know how long this one will be, it all just depends on where I go with it.**

Chapter 1: Cheater

I watched with ice in my heart as he drove off with her. I watched as the man I thought I loved drive off with some girl. I had thought that he loved me, but he didn't. He hadn't even known that I was standing here, waiting for him. I had asked him to meet up today, and he had said yes without missing a beat. We hadn't come up with a certain time to meet, so maybe I had been too late? Maybe I should have come earlier, and then none of this would have happened.

I knew that sooner or later he would get tired of me. He would find another girl to be with, he would find another girl to love and treat right. It didn't matter that he was hurting me in the process. I had figured that my relationship with him was too good to be true.

I had been shocked when he had asked me out. I had had no idea that he even knew that I existed. He had seemed so different and mysterious, and I had fallen for him the moment I had seen him across the cafeteria at Forks High. His name was Edward Cullen, and he was a vampire.

When we first got together, everything was great. He only had a problem with the fact that I was close with the wolves that lived in La Push, the small reservation just outside Forks. The wolves and vampires couldn't go onto each other's land. So, if I ever were to go down to La Push for the day, Edward couldn't come with me, and he didn't like that.

There was one wolf in particular that Edward didn't like. Paul. Edward had seen some of the looks that Paul had given me, I had always just told Edward that it was nothing, but lately I wasn't so sure. Paul and the guys had told me about imprinting, and they had explained how it feels to be imprinted on someone and throughout the whole thing, Paul was staring at me.

I hadn't said anything to him at the time, as I was with Edward, but now that I thought about it, I could definitely be with Paul. He was super-hot for one thing, but he was also really smart. I hopped into my car and went down to La Push. After seeing Edward with that girl, I needed some time with the boys.

"Katie!" Paul yelled before I even out of my car. I grinned as he lifted me off the ground in a hug.

"Hey Paul." I said looking at him.

"How are ya, Katie?" he asked, putting me back down. "What's wrong?"

"Something's wrong?" I asked.

"Yeah, I can tell…something's wrong." He said seeming to penetrate me with his eyes, as if he was searching for the answer to his question there.

"Well, I was supposed to meet with Edward today…but I got there just in time to see him driving off with some girl." I said bitterly.

Paul's face darkened. "I should rip him apart. He doesn't deserve you, Katie. You deserve someone so much better than him."

I put my hand on his arm. "It's fine. I'm going to break up with him."

He smiled at me. "Wanna go to the beach?"

"Sure." I said. We walked to First Beach together. It was always dreary and cold in Forks, but somehow coming to the beach with the guys was enjoyable. It wasn't a sunny beach, and it was far too cold to go swimming, but it was a good place to hang out with your friends.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Paul asked me.

"I'm fine." I said.

"Katherine, I know when things aren't okay with you." I cringed slightly at the use of my full name. He was either being really serious or trying to lighten the mood. I looked up at his face to see that he was being serious here.

I bit my lip. "It just hurt to see him driving off with her. Ever since she moved here a couple weeks ago, it's been like she's the first thing on his mind. It's like I took a back seat in his brain. I should've known that this would happen. I should've figured that he would end up going to her behind my back." I felt like crying. I felt like bursting into tears and bawling my eyes out. But I wouldn't do that. I was stronger than that. Edward didn't deserve my tears.

Paul put his arm around me. "He doesn't deserve you anyway, gorgeous. You deserve someone so much better than him."

"Thanks Paul." I said. "It really means a lot to me."

"I know it does." He said with a smile. "If he wants to be with that Swan girl, let him. He doesn't know what he's missing then."

I sighed. "I guess you're right. If he wants to be a complete jerk, let him."

For the rest of the day, Paul and I chilled together. It was nice, just the two of us. Normally I would be nervous about Edward seeing, but I didn't care anymore. The more I was with Paul; the more I actually started to like him.

Later on, Paul walked me back to where I had parked my car.

"Are you sure you're all right Katie?" he asked, looking down at me.

I nodded. "It was bound to happen. I had been expecting it."

"Just because you were expecting it, doesn't make it any easier to try and handle." He said.

I looked up at him. "I'm fine, I promise."

"If you need anything, I'm just a phone call away." He said.

"I know." I nodded.

I got into my car and waved to him, before driving off. I had had such a good day with Paul that I didn't want to go home.

I lived with my mom. My dad had moved out years ago when they had gotten their divorce. Now I was lucky to see him on my birthday or Christmas. He always sent me cards, but in all reality what good did that do? He rarely called me, and barely ever visited. It was as though he had wanted to erase me out of his life altogether.

I felt sorry for my mom. It had to have been hard for her, raising me all by herself. She was only sixteen when she had gotten pregnant with me, and then three years later my dad left her. Getting pregnant at sixteen wasn't the life any teenager would need. It completely changed her life. She was unable to go to college, so she had had to settle for getting a job waitressing. It wasn't the best job in the world, and it was barely enough to feed both her and me when I was a child.

Since then, however, she got a well-paying job at a bank, and had a steady income that she could use to support the both of us. I had a waitressing job now, and I always tried to help my mom as much as I could. Whenever I could pick up groceries for her, I would.

I can't say that I was the best daughter ever. I started smoking when I was thirteen, and my mom knew about it. The first day I had come home smelling like cigarettes, she knew, but never said a word to me. Now, four years later I was still smoking, and she had told me numerous times that she thought I should quit.

She never got angry with me for smoking. She understood, smoking as a teen as well, but had always advised me to quit. She had even offered to pay for those Nicorette patches or gum packages, but I had always turned her down. I didn't want to quit smoking. I knew how horrible it was for my health, but I didn't want to quit. You couldn't force someone to do that.

I was so lucky to have my mom. I mean, she always stood by me, and barely resented me for how problematic I was. She always understood, and always talked things out with me calmly.

I truly was grateful to have her. Any other mom would have hit the roof with the smoking thing, but mine hadn't. I knew that she didn't like the fact that I was still smoking, but she didn't get angry with me over it. And, it wasn't so bad. I never smoked inside the house. I always went out onto the porch to smoke.

"Hey mom!" I called as I went into the house.

"Hey Katie." She said, flipping through a magazine. "You're home late."

My mom and I looked alike. We both had the same dark brownish red hair, same facial structure, we even had the same eye shape.

But the only thing that was different was our eye colour. She had hazel eyes, that were sometimes greener, while my eyes were this really pretty blue green colour.

I had inherited the colour from my father.

"Yeah, I was in La Push." I said.

She pursed her lips. "You know I don't like those boys."

"Mom, they're my friends." I said. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with them."

"I've seen how they walk around La Push." She said. "They just don't look like the friendliest people."

"That's because you don't know them like I do." I said. "Trust me, they're perfectly safe." _Most of the time_. I added in my head.

"Did you eat?" she asked.

"Yeah, Paul and I grabbed something." I said.

"You and Paul have been hanging out together quite a lot." She said. "Is there something going on between you two? Don't let Edward get jealous."

"Actually mom, I'm going to break up with Edward." I said. She didn't ask why, and I loved her for it. "I'm gonna go upstairs, get a head start on my homework."

"It's Saturday." She pointed out.

"I know, but I want to get it out of the way." I said before going upstairs. I went up to my bedroom, and pulled out my notebooks and got started on my homework. A little while later, Edward called me, and I ignored it. I didn't want to talk to him right now. I needed to figure out how I was going to break up with him.

I finished off my homework and crawled into bed. My bed was so comfy and warm, I fell asleep right away. Maybe tomorrow after I got off work I'd go see Paul again.


	2. Chapter 2: Work

Chapter 2: Work

Working sucks ass.

The small diner in Forks was always full of customers. No matter what shift I was working I was always running around like crazy trying to serve all my customers right. Whether I was serving ice cream to a three year old or serving meat loaf to an old man…I was always busy.

I could not wait until my shift was over. Later on I was going to La Push to see the boys. Yesterday I had really only seen Paul, and I kind of missed the other two guys. The pack consisted of Sam, the pack alpha, Jared and Paul. Sam's imprint was Emily, who was super nice and always seemed to have something cooking in the house. Jared didn't have an imprint and as far as I knew, neither did Paul. It was a small pack but they had a feeling that it would be growing soon.

"Order's up, Katie!" the chef called from the kitchen. Our chef was amazing. He always made me crack up, was definitely gay, and always seemed to be able to put me in a good mood. I put my next ticket order on the chef's order wheel thingy, and grabbed my last order off the counter. I carried the plates expertly to the table and gave the patrons their order.

"Excuse me?" asked the woman at the table before I could walk away. I turned around and looked back at her.

"Yes?" she was quite pretty. I don't think I had ever seen her in Forks before. She was with a guy who I had never seen before either. They were out-of-towners.

"I asked for my salad dressing on the side." She said.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I said. "I'll get that fixed up for you right away."

I took the plate back to the kitchen.

"Mark! This Caesar salad was supposed to have the dressing on the side." I said.

"Oh my god, they're out of town aren't they?" he asked, sticking his pinkie up in the air as if mocking them. "Why not just order some lettuce with a side of dressing?"

I giggled. "Mark, calm down. She just wants to put her own dressing on her salad."

He rolled his eyes, all the time smiling. "Does she not realize that I am busy? Flipping burgers, frying fries, putting salad dressing into little cups…the list goes on!"

I laughed even more as I watched him re-create a salad, and as he made extra sure to place the little cup of salad dressing in what he called the absolute perfect spot on the plate.

I carried the plate back to their table.

"Sorry about that." I said. "Our chef didn't read the ticket right."

"Thanks." She quipped, obviously annoyed.

I rolled my eyes as I walked away.

The rest of my shift went pretty smoothly. I did drop a plate full of food once when a kid dropped his ice cream on the floor. Food went everywhere, and shards from the plate went everywhere.

"Katie, are you okay?" another waitress, Diana, called, rushing over to me.

"I'm fine…help me up?" I said, holding my hand out to her. She took my hand, and helped me off the floor. I brushed some food and glass off of myself and told Mark that I needed another order of what I had dropped, and went to the back room to get a broom.

I went back to the table and apologized to the family sitting there, and swept up the floor before getting a mop and soapy water to clean the floor. I put one of those "slippery when wet" signs on the ground where the mess had been and went back to the kitchen.

"Just in time." Mark said, handing me the plate. "Don't fall this time sweetheart."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll try not to."

I, carefully, walked the plate back to the table.

"I'm so sorry." I said to the customer.

"Don't worry." He said. "It was my son who had dropped the ice cream. As long as you're okay."

"I'm fine." I said with a smile before walking away.

When my shift was _finally _done. I got in my car and drove to La Push. I was super excited to be going to La Push. After the horrible day I had had at work, I needed some downtime with the boys.

On my drive there, I lit a cigarette, and took a nice, long drag from it. Immediately I felt a lot of the tension come out of my body. I understood why people did this. This was my stress reliever. It was horrible for me but it relieved the stress that I had bottled up inside of me. I always tried my hardest not to smoke when I was going to see the guys, the smell bothered Paul, but tonight I couldn't help it.

I finished the cigarette just before I got to Paul's apartment building. I pulled into the usual parking spot I used and went inside. I buzzed for his apartment and waited for him to answer me.

"Hello?" his voice came through the little speaker.

"It's _meeeeeeee_!" I said, dragging out the _e_ sound.

"Come on up." He said with a laugh. I heard the front door unlock, and I went inside. I went up to the elevator, pushed the button and waited. These elevators were always slow. I bounced from foot to foot as I waited. After what seemed like hours, the elevator came and I went up to Paul's floor. If I had taken the stairs it would've been a lot quicker. I went to his apartment and knocked on the door.

"It's open!" he called, voice slightly muffled. I opened the door to see that he was sitting on his couch with his back to the door. I snuck up behind him and put my hands on his shoulders, trying to scare him.

Of course, I didn't. He had probably heard the elevator making noise when I had come up to his floor.

Stupid super human hearing.

"Hey Katie." He said. I could hear the smile in his voice. "How was work?"

I climbed over the back of his couch and sat beside him.

"Horrible. I fell with a plate food." I said. "I don't even remember what the order was. But the guy tipped me well…it was his son who had dropped his ice cream that made me slip."

"Well, that's good." Paul said.

"Yup." I said, leaning back against the couch cushions. "Are any of the other two coming tonight? Or are we gonna go to Em's?"

"Nah, they're off patrolling." Paul said. "Sam gave me the night off."

"Well that's awesome." I said. It was always good when any of the guys could relax. Since it was just the three of them it was harder on each of them. They rarely got to have time to just chill. Emily had told me that whenever Sam was home, he only really had time to eat and sleep before he would go out running again.

I personally didn't understand why they constantly needed to be running. The Cullens had told me that they wouldn't risk waging a war by coming over the border, and you didn't see them constantly running along the border to try and make sure none of the wolves crossed over.

Paul and I sat together quietly. I knew that he was tired, and he knew that I was tired.

"How stressed are you?" he asked.

I looked at him weirdly. "What?"

"You must be really stressed or upset about something if you had a smoke on the way here."

See? Even he knew that I normally wouldn't smoke if I was coming to see him.

I shrugged. "Long day at work."

Now, you'd think that this was awkward, but it wasn't. We were perfectly fine just sitting here in silence. It wasn't awkward at all to sit here with Paul. It was possible for us to just be able to sit together in what would normally be an awkward silence.

I wanted to sleep, but I would do the right thing and wait until I got home. I didn't want to pass out on Paul. I sighed quietly, thinking about Edward.

"I meant to ask you, have you talked to Cullen since yesterday?" he asked.

"No I haven't." I said. "I gotta do that soon I guess, huh?"

"The sooner the better." He said. "Don't let him think everything's fine when it isn't. He'll think he's getting away with this when he isn't. Don't let that happen Katie."

"Trust me, I won't." I said. "He doesn't deserve that."

"Good." Paul said, and I could tell that he was angry. "I still can't believe what he did. And I can't believe that he actually thought he would get away with it. What an idiot."

"It's pretty much over now." I said. "Or at least it will be other within a few days."

Paul shifted so he was sitting closer to me, and wrapped his arms around me.

"Are you sure you're okay, Katie?" he asked softly.

I nodded. "I'm fine. Yeah, I was hurt at first, and I was pretty sad. But now, I realize how horribly Edward treated me. I mean, he didn't even have the decency to tell me straight up what was going on. He didn't have the balls to just come out and tell me that he had met another girl. That's the part that upsets me more than anything. The fact that he didn't even tell me that he wanted to be with Bella instead of me. And I don't blame her for it. It's his fault. Yeah she knew that he and I were together, but he had been talking to me about her since she moved here a couple weeks ago. It's not her fault he was being an ass to me."

I took a deep breath after my little rant to Paul. But he seemed to understand exactly what I was saying. He knew what I was upset about, and he didn't judge me for it, Paul never did. Paul never judged me when I ranted to him about things. I knew that I could talk to Paul about anything…and I was starting to really get some feelings for him. I had always known that Paul had feelings for me, and it made me feel bad that I couldn't return the feelings when I was with Edward. Whenever I had mentioned Edward's name he would get annoyed or short with me.

It was times like these that I had a feeling that Paul had imprinted on me. He seemed to care for me a lot, and the way he looked at me sometimes made me think that. If I so much as tripped over something on the ground, he would jump up to make sure I was okay.

I heard the annoying buzzing sound that told us that someone was trying to get into the apartment. It scared me slightly and made me jump up about three feet in the air. Paul sighed and got up.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"It's Sam. Open up!" came Sam's voice through the intercom thing.

I sighed quietly. Thinking about how annoying Sam could be. A few minutes later Sam was sitting in the living room with Paul and me.

"We need you tonight." Sam said.

"What about Jared?" Paul asked. "I ran all day today."

"Jared had a family emergency." Sam said. "I don't know when he'll be able to come back."

"Is he okay?" I asked.

"He's okay, but his mother isn't. She had a heart attack earlier today; he's been at the hospital all day today."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me earlier?" Paul demanded. "We were running this morning. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't find out until I got home. Em told me." Sam said.

Paul sighed. "Sorry Katie, but I gotta go."

"Don't worry, I understand." I said, getting up off the couch. I gave Paul a quick hug before leaving his apartment and going down to my car. On my drive home I lit a cigarette and smoked it the whole way there. I couldn't help but think about Jared's mom. I felt horrible for him, and I hoped that she would make it out okay.

Then I started thinking about Paul's parents. His mom had died when he was really young, and his dad had a drinking problem. He had never had a good relationship with his dad, and he had moved out as soon as he could.

Hell, I didn't blame him. If I were in his shoes I probably would have run away from home.

As I pulled into my driveway, I thought more and more about my feelings for Paul. I really was starting to like him. It confused me, scared me, and excited me all at the same time.


	3. Chapter 3: Visit

Chapter 3: Visit

"How's Jared's mom?" I asked into the phone.

"She's stable." Paul said. "This is really hard on him…his mom is really the only person he has, ya know?"

"Yeah, is there anything I can do?" I asked. I was sitting out behind the restaurant on break. I had called Paul as soon as I had gone on break to see how Jared and his mom were doing. I actually was pretty worried for Jared. Like Paul said, his mom was the only family he really had. His dad had walked out on them, he had a sister but she had run away from home, and he wasn't really in contact with his aunts, uncles or grandparents.

"I really don't know, Katie." Paul said. "He's a mess."

"What hospital is she in?" I asked.

"The only one in La Push." Paul said. "Sam's giving me the day off today, so I'm going by later, do you want to go together when you get off work?"

"Sure." I said. "Have you…have you been to visit yet?"

"Not yet, but Sam went and he told me that Jared's really upset, but that his mom looks pretty healthy. It was just a minor heart attack. She should be going home any day now." He said.

"So, pretty much, it's just Jared who we really need to visit to get him to calm down?" I asked.

"Pretty much, yeah." Paul said, slight laughter in his voice. "His mom is tired of being there actually."

"I don't blame her." I said. "Hey, I have to get back to work, but I get off at four. Want me to come get you?"

"Nah, I'll meet you there." He said. "See you later, Katie."

"Bye Paul." I said before hanging up and going back into work. It seemed to take hours for my shift to finish; I was excited to see Paul again.

Was that selfish of me? To be excited to see Paul, when I was going to visit Jared's mom? While I was working, I thought about it. I mean, I wasn't sure if I should feel guilty for saying that I wanted to see Paul, but on the other hand, I was really starting to have feelings for him. I had a feeling that he had imprinted on me…did imprints work both ways? If they didn't, why then had I always been drawn to Paul, even while I was with Edward? I had always felt an inexplicable pull towards him, and I had had no idea why.

Maybe that was it. Maybe since he was imprinted on me, I felt a pull to him too? It was weird, but I didn't know what to do about it. I had always felt weird talking to my mom about this kind of thing…I was never really sure how to approach her about it. Like, if I had ever liked a guy, I wouldn't tell her…I hadn't even told her when Edward and I were going out, she had found out from the gossipers in town. She hadn't wanted to ask me about it, I could tell, but she had, just to see if it was true or not, and she wasn't upset with me for not telling her.

I would definitely need a smoke after this, but I wasn't sure when I would do that. Paul would probably get annoyed with me for smoking in front of him, but work was stressing me out. There were so man kids in the restaurant today, it was driving me insane.

_Only half an hour longer_. I found myself chanting that in my head as my shift was ending. _Only twenty more minutes…only fifteen more minutes…only ten more minutes…only five more minutes…_

Finally, _finally _I was allowed to leave for the day. I went to my remaining tables and told them that my shift was over, and showed them who their new waitress was going to be, before going to the back room and gathered my jacket and my purse.

As I was about to leave, Mark came into the back room.

"Hey gorgeous." He said. "Leaving so soon?"

"Yeah, thank god my shift is over." I said. "If I had to work any longer, I might murder someone."

He laughed. "You going out for a smoke?"

"Yeah, I think so." I said.

"I'll join ya." He said. "I can't wait until I get my own restaurant. This place is slowly driving me insane."

"I know how you feel." I said as we walked out the back door of the restaurant. "You'll hire me when you get your own restaurant, right?"

"Of course! You're the best waitress in this place. You're probably the only person who I actually would hire from here."

"Aw, thanks Mark." I grinned. He pulled two cigarettes out of the box in his pocket and handed me one. I stick it in my mouth and used his lighter to light it. I handed him back his lighter, so he could light his, before I took a long drag from it. It made me feel so much better, and I felt the stress leaving my body.

"That your boyfriend?" Mark asked, motioning behind me.

I turned to see Paul walking towards us. He was still pretty far away, but I knew that it was him.

"No, he's not my boyfriend…but he might be soon, I guess…I'm not sure." I said. "Yeah, I know that doesn't make any sense, but whatever."

Mark laughed. "Good luck."

I turned to Paul, as he was closer, and smiled at him. Mark polished off his cigarette, and turned to go inside.

"See you later, Katie." He said, going back into the restaurant.

"Bye Mark!" I called after him before turning back to Paul.

"You almost ready?" he asked. The look on his face told me he wasn't exactly pleased with the fact that Mark and I had been smoking out here.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I said, finishing off my cigarette. We got into my car and I started driving to the hospital.

"Don't you know how bad smoking is for you?" he asked quietly.

I sighed. We had been over this numerous times. "Yeah, I know how bad it is for me."

"So then why don't you stop?" he asked. "I'm worried about you, Katie. I really am. I don't want to see anything happen to you."

I took a deep breath. I didn't want to have this fight with Paul, especially not now. I didn't really know what to say to him. I did know how bad it was for me, but I didn't want to stop, but he was being really sweet when he had said that he didn't want to see anything happen to me.

"I'll stop when I'm ready." I said. "Please, understand that I have to be ready to stop before I actually can. Smoking for four years is a long time. You can't just quit cold turkey for something like that, something that you've been doing for that long."

He sighed. "I don't like it, but I'm always here for you."

I smiled at him. "Thanks."

I pulled into the hospital parking lot, and found a place to park. Paul and I walked into the hospital together, and got into the elevator to go up to where her room was. Suddenly I got nervous. I had never been to visit anyone in the hospital before…and I had never really met Jared's mom before. Sure, I had seen her a couple times, but we had never really gotten into deep conversation with one another. We went to her room, and poked our heads in. she was asleep on the bed, and Jared was sitting in a chair.

Paul cleared his throat quietly, but loud enough that Jared would hear. Jared's head snapped up, and I got a good look at his face. I could see the lines of exhaustion and worry in his face. He got up off the chair, and walked over to us. We went out in the hall, and I pulled him into a hug.

"How is she?" I asked.

"She's good." He said. "She should be going home soon. Sooner than I thought she would…sooner than any of us thought she would. No one's been able to find my sister…god, I haven't seen her in years. I didn't even try and get a hold of my dad; I know he wouldn't come anyway."

Neither Paul nor I said anything at that point. Jared seemed to be lost off in his own little world, thinking about his family. It was always a tricky situation when one of us started talking about one of our family members who had left us…we were never really sure what to say or do in those situations. It was easier for me to talk to Paul about this sort of thing, but I didn't know Jared as well as I knew Paul. I didn't know how to comfort Jared like I knew how to comfort Paul. With Paul I knew exactly what to say to make him feel better, but with Jared it felt slightly awkward.

After a while, Paul and I left. We got into my car and I drove him home. I pulled into his driveway, and he turned to me.

"Katie, I have to talk to you about something." He said softly.

I felt my stomach lurch. Normally when people said that type of thing to me, it meant that something was wrong, or I had done something wrong. I thought back, and I couldn't think of anything that I had done wrong…besides the usual. "Do you remember a while back, Sam and Jared were talking about imprinting?" I nodded. "Do you remember what it's about?" I nodded again, getting nervous. I wasn't exactly sure why I was nervous, I had been anticipating this. "Well…Katie, I think Jared's imprinted on you."

"J-Jared?" I asked, blinking in confusion. It took me a moment to realize what he had said. This was completely the opposite of what I had been expecting.

"Yeah…Jared," Paul said. "He's been asking a lot about you lately, and just the way he acts around you…it just looks that way." I turned to Paul, to see that he looked really nervous.

We sat in silence, looking at each other.

Finally, he broke the silence. "It isn't Jared." He whispered. "I don't know why I said it was him…it isn't him…I…Katie…I've imprinted on you…and I don't want anything from you if you aren't comfortable with it, I just need to know that you're safe…or else it will drive me crazy. I'm not expecting a relationship or anything with you, and don't feel obligated to start one with me…unless you're comfortable with it."

"Paul, shut up for a second." I said. "You're rambling on, can I talk?" he nodded, so I continued. "Paul, over the past couple days I sort of noticed you looking at me, not in a creepy way or anything, and I noticed that you were more worried about my well-being. After you guys had told me about imprinting, I hadn't thought much of it, but over the past couple days I kinda figured out that you had imprinted on me…I guess I hadn't really noticed it before because of Edward. Lately, I've been thinking that I've started to develop feelings for you…real feelings…and no, you aren't forcing me into anything by telling me about the imprint, but maybe we could try out a relationship? See what happens."

"Really?" he asked. I nodded and he smiled. He pressed his lips softly against mine. "I'll see you tomorrow, Katie." And with that, he got out of my car and left me with my own thoughts for the night.


	4. Chapter 4: Surprise

**Chapter 4: Surprise**

Driving home that night, I felt exhilarated. Paul had told me that he had imprinted on me, and it made me feel so amazing. He had been nervous about telling me, I could tell, but at least he had told me, and that was all that counted.

I smiled to myself, remembering how his lips had felt against mine. I had never, ever felt this way when I was with Edward. Never. I had always felt like with him I would be judged, or he would make fun of me for something, but with Paul I felt like I could just be myself. I had always felt this way with him, even when I had first met him. From the minute I met him we immediately clicked, and I knew that I could goof off with him as much as I wanted.

My face heated thinking about him, and I got butterflies in my stomach just thinking about him. How could just a few words change so much between us? Before when I thought about him, I never used to get nervous or anything. Now, I got nervous and excited merely thinking about him.

I pulled into my driveway and went into my house. My mom was sitting on the couch, reading a book. I tried to sneak past her, because I knew that she would just keep asking me where I had been all day, and I really didn't want to go into detail with her, especially after she had constantly made it clear that she didn't like the boys in La Push.

Unfortunately, my ninja abilities were lacking today.

"You're home late." She noted. I swear this woman had some sort of super powers. She hadn't even looked up from her book.

Now, I could tell the truth or lie to her. But knowing her she'd learn that I had been lying, or wouldn't believe me from the start even if I did lie to her. So, I decided on bending the truth just slightly.

"Yeah, sorry, I had to stay late at work, and then after work I went to the hospital with Paul to visit Jared's mom. She had a heart attack a few days ago."

"Is she okay?" my mom asked.

"Yeah, she should be going home soon, it was just a minor heart attack. Nothing too major."

"Your dad called." She said.

I tensed. "Oh…and?"

"He wants you to call him." She said.

"Did he say why?" I asked, voice tight. I didn't want to talk to him. At all.

"Nope, he just said that he wants talk to you."

I sighed. "Do I have to call him?"

"You don't _have _to do anything that you don't want to do." She said. "But if I were you, I'd call him."

"Did I do something wrong that I don't know about?" I asked.

"Nothing that I know of." She said. "Just call him, you'll regret not knowing if you don't."

"He didn't say _anything _to you about what he wanted?" I asked.

"Nothing, just said that he wanted to talk to you."

I sighed again. "I'll call him upstairs."

I trudged up the stairs to my room and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I scrolled through my contacts and found my dad's name. I took a deep breath before calling him. It rang three times before he picked up.

"Hello?" his familiar voice came over the other end of the phone.

"Hey." I said. "You called me?"

"Oh, hey Katherine." I cringed slightly. He never, _ever _called me Katie. It was always Katherine. "Yeah, I did call. You're off school now, aren't you?"

"Yup. Until September." I said.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to stay with me for a few nights." He said.

I froze. Stay with my dad for a few nights? Why would he want me to? He rarely talked to me, rarely came to visit, rarely even acknowledged my existence. I wasn't even sure where he lived. I mean these past few Christmases and birthdays I had had, he had merely called me or sent a card with some money in it. That was it.

"Katherine?" he asked, clearing his throat.

"Um…I have work." I said.

"Surely you could schedule some time off." He said I could hear in his voice that he really wanted me to come.

I took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll come…when do you…when do you want me there?" _And where is 'there'? And how am I getting 'there'?_

"I'll book a plane ticket for you for Sunday. How's that?" he said.

Today was Friday. One full day to pack and get ready to go…and say bye to Paul.

"That sounds great." I said, feigning excitement.

"I'll email you the flight information." He said. "I just…I need your email address."

I gave it to him, trying my hardest not to sound awkward.

"Alright. It's sent." He said. "I'll pick you up from the airport on Sunday okay?"

"Okay." I said.

"I'll see you Sunday, then." He said.

"Yup, Sunday." I said.

"Bye Katherine." He said.

"Bye." I said, before ending the call.

I went downstairs to see my mom still reading her book.

"He wants me to stay with him for a few nights." I said.

She looked up, looking surprised. Just as surprised as I had been when he invited me. "Are you going?"

I nodded. "Yeah…I would've felt bad if I didn't…it sounded like he really wanted me to go."

"Well, I hope you have fun." She said.

"It seems kind of weird that he asked me though, isn't it?" I asked, biting my lip. "I mean he barely talks to me anymore, what changed?"

She shrugged. "Who knows with him? It could be anything, Katie. Just be prepared for whatever he has planned."

I sighed. "I'm leaving Sunday…he didn't say how long I'm staying for."

"He's probably going to want to know if you want to live with him, to get you back or something." She shrugged.

I rolled my eyes. As if _that_ would happen. I mean yeah, I loved my dad, but only because I kinda had to, he was my dad of course. But would I ever want to live with him? No. I was perfectly happy living here with my mom. Sure, at times I hated Forks, what with the constant rain and a certain vampire who lived here, but other than that, I didn't have a problem with it.

And, now that I was with Paul, of course I would want to stay here.

I went into the kitchen and made myself a peanut butter sandwich. I took it upstairs with me and fired up my laptop. Time to find out where I'd be going.

I opened up my email and signed in. I found the email from him and opened it.

**Katherine, here's all the flight information. Your ticket will be waiting for you at the desk at the airport, you just have to give them your flight information and name.**

**It's flight 404 to Las Vegas, leaving Sunday at 6:30 a.m.**

**I didn't book you a return ticket; I'm not sure when you'll want to be going home. See you soon.**

**-Dad**

I wrote down the flight info. I was mildly surprised at the destination. I hadn't had any idea where he was living now…but Vegas? I had been expecting somewhere a bit closer to Forks.

Whatever. I didn't really _want _to go, because I knew how awkward it would be, and to be honest I didn't want to see my dad, but I could hear that he wanted me to go in his voice. I called into work and told my boss that I wouldn't be in for a week. I decided to be safe, and say that I wouldn't be in for a week…hopefully I wouldn't be there for more than three days. That was all I was hoping for.

I started to pack up my things…and packed a week's worth of clothing. It was hot in Vegas, right? I packed the lightest clothes I had…which to be honest wasn't much as it was rarely warm in Forks, but I tried my best.

When I was done packing everything-excluding the things I would need between now and Sunday.

I sighed, I would have to call Paul and tell him that I was going.

I glance at the clock…it was pretty late, and I didn't want to bother him, especially if he was sleeping. If he was running he wouldn't answer his phone, but if he was sleeping I would leave him alone. He didn't need anyone bothering him during one of the few nights that he could actually have his own.

I changed into my pyjamas, and climbed into bed. I pulled the covers up to my nose, and fell asleep right away. The sound of the rain hitting the roof soothed me, and lulled me to sleep.

The next day I went to La Push to see Paul. I probably should've called before I went but I didn't think Paul would care very much. He always seemed happy to see me. I pulled into that parking lot of his building, and went into the lobby and buzzed him.

"Hello?" he asked. He sounded tired. I sighed.

"It's me!" I said.

"Come on up." He said, immediately sounding more awake. I opened the door and went inside. I went into the elevator, and went up to Paul's floor. I sighed quietly. Of course the day after Paul and I got together, I was saying goodbye to him and leaving for…how long was I even going for?

I rolled my eyes. Thanks dad.

I knocked on Paul's door.

"It's open." He called. I opened the door and went inside. I grinned at him. "Hey."

He smiled. "Hey."

"So…wanna know what happened to me last night?" I asked, trying to sound light, and sitting on his couch.

He sat down beside me, and looked at me, expression serious.

"What happened?"

"When I got home last night my mom told me that my dad called and wanted me to call him. So I did…and he wants me to go visit him for a few days." I said.

"Are you going?" he asked.

I nodded. "I was going to say no…but I could hear how much he wanted me to go."

"When are you going?" he asked.

"Leaving tomorrow morning." I said.

He looked surprised. "Tomorrow?"

I nodded. "Yup. I would've rathered it have been a bit later, but there's nothing I can really do about it. He already booked the ticket."

"How long are you staying?" he asked.

I shrugged. "He didn't say."

"Do you want me to take you to the airport tomorrow?" he asked.

"No, I think my mom is taking me." I said. "Besides, you can't come into Forks; I wouldn't want you to get in trouble."

He snorted. "Do you think I'm scared of some bloodsuckers hunting me down? You know me better than that, Katie."

I rolled my eyes. Of course Paul wouldn't care about waging war with the Cullens. Why should he?

For the rest of the day we just chilled together, and it was nice. It was the best way that I could imagine spending my last day in Forks before I visited my dad.


	5. Chapter 5: Vegas

**Chapter 5: Vegas**

Driving to the airport with my mom, I felt weird. I knew that going to see my dad would make me feel out of place…how long _had _it been since I had seen him last? Now that I thought back, the last time I had seen him was on my twelfth birthday, when he had come for a visit and had taken me out to dinner somewhere in Seattle. Five years ago was when I had seen him last. Five years was a pretty long time. A lot had changed since then.

My mom pulled into the parking lot of the airport, and turned to me.

"Now, Katie, try and have a good time with him. I know you aren't exactly fond of him, but try to have a good time, okay?" she said.

"I'll try." I said. "But I can't promise anything, mom, if he gets me mad I'm not gonna hide how angry I am with him. You know me better than that."

She smiled. "You definitely got that from me."

I gave her a quick hug, and got out of the car. I walked into the airport and checked in, before sitting in the waiting area, and wearily looked out at the giant planes moving on the runway. When they allowed us on, I walked through that little hallway that connects the plane to the airport, clutching my carry-on bag tightly.

Plane rides had always made me nervous. Ever since I was a little girl fear had washed over me as soon as I stepped onto the plane. Just walking over to my seat once I was on the plane always got to me, so as you can imagine, sitting on this plane alone was not doing anything good for me. I could feel nervousness coil like a knot in the pit of my stomach, and I wanted absolutely nothing more than to run off the plane.

This was the only time-I think ever-that I actually wished for my dad to be here. I wished for anyone to be here to calm me down, because just sitting here, looking out the window, was driving me absolutely crazy.

Most people told me that it would be better for me to just sleep during the flight, but I could never calm down enough to actually sleep. I don't know if it was a fear of the plane crashing, or just me being claustrophobic on planes.

A man sat down beside me and noticed how nervous I looked.

"Don't worry." He said. "The plane wants to be in the air."

I'd be lying if I said that that actually helped me calm down.

As the plane ascended into the sky, I felt my stomach lurch uncomfortably and my ears popped. This part and when the plane landed were my least favourite parts. It always made me feel sick to my stomach. After the plane was steadily in the air, I curled into a little ball and leaned against the wall beside me. I couldn't wait for this plane ride to be over.

Finally, after what seemed like eight hours, I felt the plane begin its descent to the airport. I sat properly again, and closed my eyes, feeling my stomach go crazy. Within a few moments it was over, and I could breathe normally again. It was so irrational what I went through every time I got on a plane, it was unreal, but I couldn't help it. The man who had been sitting next to me took my bag down from the overhead compartment.

"Thank you." I mumbled.

"No problem." He said back.

I made my way off of the plane and into the airport. Now would be the tricky part. Was I supposed to meet him out here, or outside? Or down at the luggage carousel? I slung my bag over my shoulder, and looked around. Finally, in the big crowd of people, I saw a familiar face. I could clearly see his jet black hair, tall body structure, slightly angular facial features…blue-green eyes that mirrored my own. He was wearing dark jeans, and a dark t-shirt. I looked down at my own dark jeans, black long-sleeved shirt, and leather jacket…I felt as if I was wearing too much…considering the heat in the airport; it was probably even hotter outside. It had been freezing in Forks, which was why I had dressed a bit warmer today.

I went over to him, and he looked at me in surprise.

"Katherine?" he asked.

I nodded. "That's me."

"You've changed a lot." He noted

I nodded again. "Well a lot changes in five years, doesn't it?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I guess so."

I had told my mom that I would try, but I had also told her that I wasn't making any promises. The way I saw it was that he had abandoned me for five years, technically more since he hadn't actually lived with us for most of my life, so I could act however I wanted around him and he couldn't really say anything about it. Well, he could say whatever he wanted obviously, but it wouldn't make much of a difference in my life.

He walked with me down to the luggage carousel and I stood beside me waiting for my suitcase to come around. We didn't have to wait very long, and I leaned forward to grab it, but my dad beat me to it, and led me out of the airport, wheeling my suitcase out of the airport behind him.

"Thanks." I mumbled, following behind him.

"No problem." He said.

The rest of the walk through the busy airport was quiet between us. Neither of us said anything the entire walk. It was super awkward and I had no idea how to deal with these types of situations. What did you say to your father who you hadn't seen in five years? What was I supposed to _do_? What was he supposed to do? What were either of us supposed to say? I'm sure he had no idea what to say, just as I had absolutely no idea either.

I followed him out of the airport and into the parking lot. The heat hit me like a wrecking ball. I immediately took off my jacket, and stuffed it into my carry-on bag.

"Sorry…I should've warned you about the heat…I forgot how cold Forks was."

"It's fine." I said. "I have lighter clothes in my suitcase…it was freezing in Forks when I left."

He chuckled. "It's always freezing in Forks."

Though I hated to admit it, a small smile spread across my face. He was right; it was always freezing in Forks except on the rare warm days.

"Hey there's my little girl." He said; tone of his voice warm and happy.

"The little girl you haven't seen in five years, right?" I muttered.

He sighed. "I had a feeling this was going to come up."

"Well it's pretty obvious that it would." I said.

"Can we talk about it in the car?" he asked.

I nodded. He led me straight to a sleek, black car.

I stared at him. "This is yours?"

"Yup." He said, putting my suitcase in the trunk of his car. I was surprised, I had expected some crappy ass little car that was ugly. But, a sleek, black, Carlisle Cullen car?

He unlocked the doors, and I slid into the passenger seat beside him. The interior of the car was black, the seats leather.

He turned up the air conditioning and turned to me.

"Katherine, I know that it's been a long time, but I'm really trying. I know it's hard to believe, but I want to be part of your life again. Can we at least try to have a slightly normal father-daughter relationship?"

"You're never around. You were never around when I was kid. How can I not resent you for that? For the majority of my life, you haven't been around at all. What's changed now that you're trying to be part of my life?" I asked, anger boiling in the pit of my stomach. "Do you have any idea how hard it was for mom to try and support both her and me? You could've helped out more-and no I don't mean paying child support, which I know you did-you could've been around a bit more to take me off her hands once in a while. To give her a little break."

"I offered to let you come stay with me, but she always said no. She wanted full custody, and the judge granted it to her."

"That never stopped you from taking me for the day on my birthdays, or out for Christmas. You could've done that a bit more often, couldn't you have?"

He took a deep breath. "Katherine, it's hard to explain everything. There's no excuse I can make for not being in your life more, and I apologize for it, I really do. I wish that I could've been in your life more. I missed out on everything that happened in your life…I should've fought harder to have some custody over you, but I didn't and I regret it every day."

I could tell he was upset, but what could I say? I didn't really want to forgive him for everything but I felt bed, I could tell he was sad…and I could tell he actually was sorry.

I looked out the window of the car, feeling weird and awkward. I had a feeling I would be feeling like this a lot while I stayed with him. There would be quite a lot of awkward moments between us, and I wanted to avoid them as well as I could, but I knew that they were unavoidable. No matter what we had a strained relationship.

"So," he cleared his throat. "How's work?"

"Good, I guess." I said.

"What do you do?"

"I'm a waitress." I said. "At that diner in La Push."

"La Push?" he asked. "The Quileute reservation?"

I nodded. "That's the one."

"Oh." He said. "How's your mom doing?"

I had had a feeling that this topic would come up.

"She's good." I said.

As we were driving, I noticed he was going through what was definitely the "rich" part of town. The houses started looking way nicer, and _a lot _bigger. Did he actually live in this area? First the Carlisle Cullen car, now the Cullen family house? He had to be joking me.

He pulled up to a house…a _huge _house. It was indescribable…there was a wrought-iron gate leading to a huge driveway, a huge lawn on either side of the driveway.

"You…you live here?" I asked, unable to keep the shock out of my voice.

"I'm trying not to let the fact that you had completely low standards of me bother me too much." He said with a small laugh.

"But I mean…this house…it's…wow." I said, at a loss for words.

"Well, spending fourteen years working, gets you a lot of money, Katherine. There's lots of money here in Vegas, you just have to search." He said.

I was quiet as he drove up the driveway. I completely hadn't been expecting _this_. I mean, I had expected a small house, and amore beat up car, not a luxury car and an amazing house.

He got to the top of the driveway, and got out. I got out behind him, and looked around. This looked like a house a celebrity would own. This was the kind of house people dreamed of living in, a nice, huge house.

He took my suitcase out of his trunk, and I slung my carry-on bag over my shoulder. He led me into the house, and the inside was more amazing than the outside. High ceilings, hardwood floors, dark red painted walls, a giant chandelier hanging in the middle of the ceiling…it was amazing. This was completely beyond what I was used to-even the times I had spent in the Cullens' house.

"I'll take you up to your room so you can get settled, then later on we'll go out for dinner, how does that sound?" he asks.

"That sounds fine." I said.

He led me up the giant staircase, and led me into one of the rooms. The walls were painted a light blue colour, and had a desk, a large bed with dark purple sheets, and there was a dresser against a wall.

It was probably three times bigger than my room at home.

"Thanks." I mumbled.

"I'll see you later." He said, exiting the bedroom.


	6. Chapter 6: Alone

**Chapter 6: Alone**

I opened my suitcase and looked for something light to wear. Was dinner tonight meant to be more formal? Did I have to dress up? I bit my lip. I wasn't sure what to do. I was pretty sure anything I wore would be perfectly fine, but I still didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb.

I stared at my wide-open suitcase, looking to find something…_anything_ suitable to wear tonight. Where the hell were we even going? Given the large amount of money my dad seemed to have, I figured we were going somewhere nice.

That didn't help. I still had no idea what to wear.

I completely emptied out my suitcase, going through every single article of clothing I had brought.

I heard a knock at my door, were we leaving already?

"Come in." I said.

My dad entered my room and I heard a small laugh from him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Trying to find something to wear for tonight." I said.

"What you're wearing is fine." He said. I gave him a look. "Trust me. You look fine."

"Alright." I said. We walked out to his car together and I slid in the passenger seat. He drove through the streets of Las Vegas until we pulled up to a restaurant. It didn't look fancy or anything and the people walking inside didn't look too dressed up.

"There used to be a restaurant from the same chain as this one in Forks, it closed down though." He explained. "I used to take your mom there all the time, and after you were born, we'd bring you along too."

"Oh." I said.

We got out of his car and he led me inside the restaurant. We sat down at a table and I hid behind my menu. I was so unsure what to say to him. I could clearly picture him and my mom sitting in a restaurant exactly like this on a date together. It reminded me of happier times, even though I had never been able to witness it.

After we finished eating and while we were waiting for the bill, I told my dad that I'd meet him outside. I went just outside the restaurant to wait for him and sat down on a bench. I had my jacket folded in my lap. There really wasn't any use for it in this heat.

"Hello." Said a male's voice. I looked up to see a tanned guy with dark brown hair who looked around my age smiling at me. "Are you alone?"

"Oh, no, my dad's just inside paying." I said.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Katie, what's yours?"

"I'm Ian." He said, sticking his hand out. I shook it.

"Nice to meet you." I said.

"You too." He said. "You're not from around here, are you?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Only visiting."

"Well, that's a shame." He said. "I would've liked to get to know you more."

"Well, sorry I couldn't help you out with that." I muttered.

He chuckled. "You're pretty funny."

"Thanks, I try." I said, smiling wryly.

I turned and looked just into the restaurant to see my dad coming.

"Well, that's my ride." I said, motioning to him. "Nice to meet you, Ian."

"Likewise, Katie." He said.

I waved goodbye to him as he went into the restaurant just as my dad was coming out.

"Oh, I see you've met Ian." My dad said once he had reached me.

I nodded. "Yup. He came over and started talking to me."

"He's a pretty good kid." He said.

"Alright." I said.

"He'd be good for you."

"Good for me?" I repeated incredulously. "Dad, I have a boyfriend."

He turned and stared at me, wide-eyed. "You do?"

I nodded.

"Oh…sorry then."

"It's fine. I said, trying not to sound as awkward as I felt. We walked in silence back to his car, and I hoped that the rest of my trip here wasn't this awkward with him.

Back at the house I went up to my room and flopped onto the bed.

Why did it have to be so awkward between my dad and me?

Well, in a way it was his fault, we hadn't seen each other for five years, how was it supposed to be normal between us? I sighed. I couldn't wait to get back home and be with Paul and my mom again. Even though my dad's new life was obviously "better" than Forks, I didn't like it. I felt so empty and out of place in this house, I knew I would never fit in here.

Maybe that was why my dad wanted me to stay here with him. I knew that that conversation would eventually come up, and he would offer to let me live here with him permanently, but maybe _he _felt out of place here too, and wanted some company. As far as I could tell, he didn't have a girlfriend. Maybe he needed something from back home to make him feel better here? Maybe, even after living here for almost ten years, he still didn't feel like he belonged in this big fancy house.

Maybe he was lonely here.

Just as I was, right now.


	7. Chapter 7: Home

Chapter 7: Home

"So I've been thinking," my dad began the next morning in the kitchen while I was eating breakfast. "That maybe you…maybe you might want to come live with me…you know, permanently?"

I didn't know how to answer him. Obviously my answer was a no, but I didn't want to be mean to him.

"Maybe not right away, you could graduate from high school first, maybe come down here after that?" he pressed.

How could I answer him without hurting his feelings?

"Dad," I said carefully. "I…I don't want to move here. I've just started liking Forks after years of hating it."

"Like I said not right away, but if you ever want to leave Forks, you're always welcome here."

"Thanks." I said quietly, knowing I probably wouldn't end up coming back here to live here. I didn't want to live here. It was too…strange.

The rest of the week was nice. When I was packing all my things, I oddly felt as if I didn't want to go. I felt bad for my dad, being alone here…but I needed to see Paul again. I missed him.

On the plane back home, I couldn't wait to get back to Forks. I wasn't even that nervous on the plane, because of how excited I was. I wasn't sure who was picking me up when I landed. I had called both my mom and Paul and told them when I was landing. I couldn't even remember if Paul had said he was going to come get me or not.

Either way, I was seeing him today. I was bouncing in my seat, waiting to see him. I wanted to be in his warm arms again. I figured it'd be my mom coming to get me, because Paul couldn't come into Forks, but knowing him he wouldn't care and just come anyway. The plane began to land, and I felt the adrenaline pump through my veins. I was excited to see Paul again…so excited my heart almost hurt.

I navigated my way through the airport, and got my suitcase and went out of the airport. I searched for my mom's car, but didn't see it. And then, I was practically lifted off the ground as someone hugged me from behind.

Immediately, I grinned. I knew exactly who was here. I twisted around to look at him, drinking in the sight of his face.

"I missed you." Paul said.

I buried my face in his neck. "I missed you too. "

"How was it?" he asked, putting me down and picking up my suitcase.

"Pretty nice, actually." I said. "Are you even supposed to be here?"

He laughed. "Nope. But I decided I didn't care. Sam tried to stop me, but I had to see you. I drove his truck here."

"So you defied his orders, and then stole his truck." I teased.

He chuckled and put his arm around my shoulders, and led me to Sam's beat up, old truck.

As Paul drove me home, I told him about my week with my dad. Of course, there wasn't much to tell him, as I hadn't done much, but I was happy just being with Paul again, it didn't matter that I didn't have much to say. He pulled into my driveway and parked.

"I'll help you carry your stuff in." he said.

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."

He rolled his eyes. "What, you wanna get rid of me that quickly?" I knew he was joking by the tone of his voice.

"Of course not." I said. "It's just…my mom. I hadn't been expecting that you'd be meeting her so soon."

He nodded, understanding. "It'll be fine."

I sighed. "She doesn't…realize."

He nodded again. "I know, but I'm stubborn. Let's go."

Suddenly nervousness washed over me. How would my mom react to meeting Paul for the first time? We went up to the front door, and I unlocked it.

"Mom?" I called. "I'm back!"

"I'm in the kitchen!" she called back.

I glanced back at Paul and led him to the kitchen.

"How was it?" my mom asked, turning to look at me. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Paul. "Hello." She greeted him.

"Mom, this is Paul." I said.

"Pleasure to meet you." She said, sticking out her hand.

He shook it. "Same to you."

I glanced up at Paul, he seemed almost nervous.

"He picked me up from the airport." I explained.

"Oh, I could've done that." She said.

"Oh, no, it was really my pleasure." Paul said.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" she offered.

"I wish I could." He said. "But I have to work tonight."

She nodded. "Some other time then, I guess."

"For sure." He said, smiling at her. "I should probably get going, I'll help you take your suitcase upstairs, Katie."

I nodded. "Alright."

We left the kitchen and he grabbed my suitcase and I led him upstairs to my room.

"That went well." I said quietly, motioning for him to just put my suitcase down at the end of my bed.

He nodded. "She seems really nice."

"She seems to like you, too." I said.

He sighed. "I probably _should _get going. Sam's expecting me soon and the Cullens..."

"Alright." I said, understanding and leading him downstairs.

"It was nice meeting you." My mom said, smiling warmly at him.

"Likewise." He said, smiling back at her.

I walked him to the front door. "See you later?"

"Are you working tomorrow?" he asked.

"No, I gotta call in to find out when I'm working again."

"Maybe we can chill tomorrow, then." He said.

"Hopefully." I said.

He pecked me on the cheek. "Bye Katie."

"Bye Paul." I said, before closing the door.

I turned to see my mom leaning against the doorway of the kitchen.

"He seems nice." She said.

"Do you really like him?" I asked, hoping for her approval more than anything.

"So far, he seems very nice." She said. "He really likes you. I can see it just by the way he looks at you. Are you sure about him, though?"

I nodded. "I really like him…much better than Edward."

"He isn't just a rebound?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I couldn't do that to him."

"If you're sure." She said.

I nodded again. "I'm positive."

My mom didn't realize, she _couldn't _realize, how deep our relationship went. Paul could never just be a rebound guy for me. We were so much stronger than that. Seeing him today at the airport had made my heart well up in my chest. I had felt almost close to tears as I had buried my head in his neck, breathing in his scent again. It had felt as if we had been separated for months, and not just one week.

That night I hung out with my mom. We ate dinner together and I told her about my week with my dad. She didn't look surprised at all when I told her about him offering to let me stay there, but it didn't seem to bother her. Before I went she figured he'd ask me that, and she knew that I wouldn't have accepted.

Sometimes, it was as if my mom and I shared a brain. She had known that I wouldn't have said yes to living with my dad, just as she knew how much I liked Paul. And I loved that about her. She could sense things about me, which meant there would be no use for any awkward explanations.


	8. Chapter 8: Annoyance

**AN: As you may have seen, Fanfiction posted an update regarding MA content. I do not know if this will affect any of my stories, but if they are taken down, does anybody know a place I would be able to post these stories so that you all could continue reading them? Let me know ASAP. I doubt **_**this **_**story will get taken down. I will continue posting on this site, but just in case the stories do end up getting taken down, I would like to know an alternative. Thank you!**

**Chapter 8: Annoyance**

"You're back!" Mark yelled at me when I went into the restaurant for my first shift since coming back from Vegas. He was standing out back on his break.

I grinned. I had missed Mark too.

"Nice to see you!" I said, hugging him tightly.

"How was it?" he asked.

"A whole lot more than I expected," I said. "My dad's rich."

"Hope you don't get tempted to go live there," Mark said, teasing clear in his tone. "I'll need a good waitress once I open my own restaurant."

"You know I'm here for you," I said, smiling at him. I went into the restaurant, and my shift dragged. The only thing keeping me going was that I was seeing Paul after the shift. It felt as if I had been off work for months, and not just a week.

When my shift was over, Paul picked me up, and I didn't ever want to go home. We chilled at the beach together. It was nice being able to spend time with him, after an entire week without him.

"I know this is going to sound silly, but I was worried about you," he said softly. "I was afraid you might meet someone there."

I laughed. "Someone over you?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, it made me a bit nervous. Just me overthinking things, you know?"

I smiled at him. "You don't need to worry about that. I promise." He wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly against him.

"I missed you," he said.

I smiled. "I missed you too."

As I drove home, I thought about how sad it made me to drive away from Paul on almost a daily basis. I didn't like having to leave him, but what choice did I have? I surely couldn't move out of my mom's house yet, I wasn't old enough, and even if I was, where would I go? Did I expect Paul to just open his door for me? No. I knew that was likely to happen, but I also knew not to expect it. I didn't want him to feel obligated to let me move in with him. We hadn't even touched that subject yet, why should I be the one to bring it up?

I pulled into the driveway and went inside the house. I had cut back on my smoking immensely since I left for Vegas; that made both my mom and Paul happy.

"Out with Paul?" Mom asked the minute I walked in.

I nodded. "Yup."

"You could have let me know you weren't coming home right away," she said.

"Sorry," I said, I could tell she was pissed.

"Your dinner's on the table," she said hotly, going into her bedroom.

Whatever. She'd come around soon enough. She wouldn't be mad at me forever; I knew that for a fact.

I went into the kitchen and ate the now room temperature meal she had prepared. I did feel a bit bad; I knew I should have called her to let her know. Why hadn't I?

I went up to my bedroom after I was finished eating and flopped onto my bed. I was dead tired, but I didn't want to sleep. Finally I fell asleep, and didn't wake up into late the next morning. It was the best sleep I had had in a while.

I spent the next few days getting back into the regular swing of things. My mom stopped being mad at me the next day, and I worked for the rest of the week. I tried spending more time with my mom than with Paul…even though it was killing me. I wanted to spend as much time with him as I possibly could, but with Mom breathing down my neck, it was hard. I knew she was trying to like Paul as much as she could, but all she could picture was him being in a gang or something.

I had explained this to Paul numerous times, but he didn't seem to get it.

"It makes me uncomfortable when you're there," he said. "I don't mean with your mom, not at all, I mean in Forks…if something happens to you I'm not allowed to come help you."

We were sitting together in Paul's little apartment, I was curled in his lap on his couch.

"I know you don't," I said. "But I can't just leave my mom alone there. If I walked in at God knows what time…she'd have my head on a platter."

He tightened his arms around me ever so slightly…so slightly that I almost didn't feel it. Almost.

"It makes me anxious," he admitted. "I'm always just so…so nervous that something is going to happen to you on the way back to your place…imprint thing." He said the last part with a shrug.

I leaned my head against his shoulder, taking comfort in his warmth. "Nothing is going to happen to me."

"But how do I know that?" he pressed.

"You don't," I said simply. "Just like I never know what's going to happen to you while running the borders with Sam and the guys. I worry too, you know."

He chuckled. "Katie, I'm not remotely close to as breakable as you."

"But that doesn't mean nothing's going to happen to you," I said quietly. "How do I know what could happen to you?" I snuggled closer to him.

"You don't need to worry about me," he said softly. "As soon as we get hurt it begins to heal. It's instant. But you…one little misstep and…" he trailed off; I could tell he didn't even want to finish the sentence.

I looked up at him. "I don't want you to worry about that type of thing."

"_I _could hurt you, though," he said.

"You won't," I said.

"How do we know that?" he asked. "I have a bad temper, Katie. If I ever hurt you…"

"Don't think about that," I said. "I trust you."

"I don't trust myself," he said.

I closed my eyes and tucked my head just under his chin, against his neck. I didn't want him thinking the way he was thinking. I couldn't picture Paul hurting me in any way, shape, or form.

"When you were in Vegas…" he trailed off. I could only imagine what he was thinking.

I shook my head. "It must have been terrible for you."

"It was hard," he admitted. "I had to distract myself from thinking about what could happen to you."

"You don't need to think that way," I said.

"Yes," he said, meeting my eyes. "I do."

"Do you think I can't take care of myself?" I asked, feeling annoyance bubble in the pit of my stomach.

"I didn't mean it that way," he said. "I just worry about you."

I didn't say anything. I knew he cared about me, but the way he was speaking to me made me feel like I was his little sister or something. It ticked me off that he was saying these things to me. As if I was incapable to care for myself. I'm sure he felt my posture change slightly but he didn't say anything about it, and neither did I. I let it drop for now, but if this continued I would have to say something to him. I couldn't be in a relationship with someone who was so overprotective of me that I didn't get any freedom at all. That wasn't how I worked.

"I should go," I said.

"Can't you stay a little longer?" he asked softly.

I shook my head. "I don't want my mom to shoot me."

"I'll walk you out, then," he said.

He led me out of his apartment, and into the parking lot.

"Be safe," he said, kissing me before I got into my car.

"Always," I said, feigning a grin. Meanwhile on the inside I was annoyed…could he _feel _that I was annoyed? Had he said something about that to me? I wasn't entirely sure.

"You okay?" he asked, looking worriedly into my eyes.

"I'm fine," I said. "Do you want me to let you know when I get home?"

He nodded. "You don't look too good; you look like you're going to pass out."

It was as if as soon as he mentioned a wave of sick feeling rolled through me. I blinked rapidly; I needed to regain my bearings.

"Do you want me to drive you?" he asked worriedly.

"No…I'll…I'll be fine," I said. "I'll…I'll call you when I get home."

"Katie, you're burning up," he said-he was holding my hand. "Are you _sure _you're okay to drive?"

"Positive," I said-even though I wasn't. "I'll give you a call when I get there."

I could tell he was reluctant to let me go, but he leaned into my car and kissed me goodbye before I left. I felt terrible. I just wanted to curl into a little ball under the covers on my bed and sleep all night. I gripped the steering wheel as I stopped at a red light. I closed my eyes tightly and concentrated on taking deep breaths. I felt horrendous.

I should've just let Paul drive me home. That would have been the smart thing to do. Why couldn't I have just let him drive me home?

Because I'm stubborn...and I was annoyed with him. Now I regretted my earlier thoughts. It made me realize that I needed Paul to look out for me.

Suddenly, something flashed in front of my car. I slammed on the breaks and searched with my eyes. What the hell had that been? Slowly I started driving again, hands gripping the steering wheel.

"Don't you dare scream," a man's voice said right behind my head. My eyes widened in alarm. "Keep driving," he instructed.

"Where?" I whispered, voice shaking. What else could I do? What if he had a weapon?

My mind was spinning. How had he even gotten into my car? I was absolutely terrified, and wanted Paul with me.

_Paul_

"What did you do to her?" I demanded, banging on the Cullens' door. "Where is she?"

The tiny, dark haired one opened the door, and crinkled her nose at me. "What are you talking about?"

"Katie. Where is she?" I demanded, fury rising in my stomach. "I found her car-empty-on the side of the road driving back to her house, and I smelled bloodsucker in and around it. Where is she?"

"I…I have no idea," she said, worry crossing her face. I could tell she wasn't acting. She genuinely had no idea. That made me even more scared. "You said you could smell a vampire in her car?"

"You mean you don't have her?" I demanded. "I figured you saw how sick she was and brought her home with you…you…you don't have her?" My stomach lurched. Where was she?

"I'm positive that we don't," she said…I could hear the worry in her voice. "We'll help you find her as best we can."

At that, I bolted. I ripped off my shirt, tied the little cord with shorts attached to it to my ankle that Emily had given to us, and phased, going back to where I had discovered her car.

_Paul what are you doing?_ Sam's voice came in my head.

_Katie's missing._ Was my only explanation.

_You're breaking the rules. Come back now. You're waging war with them._

_They know I'm here. _I said before ignoring him. I followed Katie's scent until it felt like my legs were about to fall off. I came to a warehouse and I could smell her inside. I phased back into a human and pulled on the shorts. I couldn't hear anything from inside, but I could smell her. I knew that she was still alive, if she had been…killed, I would have felt it immediately.

I tried without much hope to open the door…of course it was locked. I went around the building and tried to open all the doors, but they were all locked.

"You smell like a wet dog," said a male's voice from inside. I pressed my ear against the door, hoping for some sort of response from Katie.

I heard a chuckle from the man, and then an unmistakable snap, and then a slight whimper...the sound of someone trying to bight back a scream.

"Are you going to tell me what's so special about that girl?" he asked softly. "Why are they keeping her as their pet?"

"I…I don't know," I heard Katie say. Her voice sounded _so _weak. She was in a lot of pain, I could tell. I didn't want to make too much noise going in to help her, who knows what he would do to her. I looked all around myself, and right at my feet was a window, just big enough for me to fit through. As quietly as I could, I broke the glass. I tensed, listening for any reaction from either person inside the warehouse. I didn't hear anything, so I slid inside. I was obviously in the basement area of the warehouse, and I couldn't smell Katie down here. She was upstairs.

I navigated my way through the basement and found stairs leading up. As quietly as I could, I ascended the stairs, Katie's scent getting stronger and stronger as I went.


	9. Chapter 9: Injuries

Chapter 9: Injuries

_Katie_

My head was pounding, and I found it difficult to concentrate. One of my wrists was broken, and I was drifting in and out of consciousness. I just wanted to sleep…I just wanted to be done with all this pain.

He, whoever he was, wanted to know about Bella. I knew absolutely nothing about her. Why was he interrogating me? I opened my eyes to see him sitting in the floor a few feet away from me. He was watching me intently, as if waiting to see what I would do next. I couldn't do anything. I was too numb with pain.

I closed my eyes, it felt better this way.

Out of nowhere, like an explosion, his voice boomed throughout the room. "Who did you tell?"

My eyes flew open, and he was now inches from me.

"What?" I whispered.

"I can smell something here. Its scent is on you," he growled.

"I…I have no idea," I whispered. My mind was racing, what was he talking about?

I heard a door bang open, but passed out before I could find out what was happening.

When I woke up I was in an unfamiliar room. I blinked a few times, trying to clear my head. I breathed in through my nose, and immediately the smell of anesthetic hit me like a wave. The fluorescent lights stung my eyes, and the bed I was on was uncomfortable.

Why was I in a hospital? I lifted my left arm to rub my eye, and saw a cast on it.

"He broke your arm."

I turned to see Paul sitting in a chair in the corner.

"Who?" I asked.

"A bloodsucker," he practically spat the word.

"One of the Cullens?" I whispered.

"No," said another voice from the door. I turned to see Carlisle Cullen, Edward's father, standing there. "He was a nomadic vampire. He was a tracker."

"Why don't I remember any of this?" I asked, looking from Carlisle to Paul.

"You hit your head," Carlisle said. "Give it some time, you'll remember soon." I took a deep breath. "Also, Katherine, the tracker bit you." My head whipped around to meet his eyes. "He didn't turn you, but he did take a little bit of blood from you." He motioned to my right wrist. I looked down at it to see gauze wrapped around it. "Other than that, you'll be perfectly fine. Although, I do think that you should stay here for a couple days, to make sure that your head is fine."

"Thank you, Dr. Cullen," I said.

"Please, Katherine, call me Carlisle," he said. "Oh, and Alice will be here shortly to help you come up with something to tell your mother."

That made my stomach lurch. I hadn't spoken to Alice since before I had ended it with Edward. Would it be awkward between us? My hands shook slightly.

"Do you need anything else before I go?" Carlisle asked. "I'll be back in a couple hours to check up on you."

"No, I'm fine for now," I said, smiling at him. I was glad it wasn't awkward between Carlisle and I.

I glanced at Paul, he was looking away. I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking that he could have prevented what had happened to me.

"Are…are you okay?" I asked softly.

His head snapped up to stare at me wide eyed. "Are you _really _asking _me_ that?" I didn't answer him. "Katie, you could've been killed. Do you realize that?"

He was angry. I could hear it in his voice, so I remained silent.

"If you had just let me drive you home, none of this would have happened," he said.

"Oh so now it's my fault?" I demanded, anger bubbling in the pit of my stomach.

"No," he said. "It's mine for not forcing you to let me drive you."

"I'm going to get hurt no matter what," I growled. "I'm _human_. Why can't you accept that? Would you rather I be invincible? Would you rather me be a vampire? Because that almost happened last night."

"That's what terrifies me!" he said loudly. "You're so breakable. Anything could happen to you at any minute, do you have any idea how terrifying it is for me? You're right, you _are _human. You could break so easily…"

I was about to open my mouth to say something else, when there was an interruption.

"Katie? Your mom is on her way here, we need to come up with something to say," Alice's tinkling voice came from the door.

"Ummm okay," I said, slightly distracted.

"Oh, come on Katie," she said. "Just because my brother and you didn't work out doesn't mean we can't stop being friends."

I smiled. "I'm glad."

"Okay, so let's get down to business," she said. "I _think_ we could say that you fell down a flight of stairs at our house. It would be believable."

I held up my right wrist, with the gauze on it. "What would explain this?"

"You hit a table and a vase fell on you and shattered," she said.

"Why was I at your house?" I asked.

"Visiting me," she grinned. "I moved your car into our garage."

"Alright," I said. "I got it."

A few minutes later, my mom came in to see me. Alice was still sitting there; it was more believable that way.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Mom asked, rushing over to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "I barely remember what happened. I hit my head."

"Katie, I'm so sorry. We didn't get a chance to clean the water that spilled," Alice said.

I waved off her apology. "Don't be. It's my fault for not seeing it."

"You slipped on water?" Mom asked.

I nodded. "We accidentally spilled some at the top of the staircase, and slipped and fell. Apparently I hit a table and vase fell on me." Wow, I was pretty good at this.

"You _have _to be more careful," she said.

"I know," I said. "I have to stay in here for a couple days, to make sure there's no damage to my head."

She looked me in the eyes; I could see the worry in her eyes.

"Don't worry, Miss. Benson, we'll cover all hospital expenses," Alice said.

"What?" Mom asked, turning to look at Alice. "You don't need to do that."

"She fell at our house," Alice said with a shrug. "And besides, since my dad is treating her, it won't be as expensive anyway."

"If you're sure…" I could tell Mom didn't like it. She didn't want to feel like a charity case.

"I'm positive," Alice grinned.

"I have to get to work," Mom said. "I'll come back tonight afterwards, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

She kissed my forehead. "You'll be okay here?"

I nodded. "I'll be fine."

She smiled at me before exiting the hospital room. Soon after Mom left, Alice skipped out of the room as well, and Paul and I were left alone again.

"I blame _myself_ for this, Katie," he said. "I can't believe I let this happen to you."

"It's going to happen no matter what," I said softly. "I'm only human, Paul, it's going to happen."

"I know," he said. "I just don't want to see anything happening to you. It would kill me. When I saw you on the floor of that warehouse…"

I was quiet, mulling this over. "What are you saying?"

"Would it be better if you were away from me?" he asked.

"Why would you say that?" I whispered.

"Because it would be so easy for me to hurt you. I could hurt you with the twitch of my finger. I couldn't do that to you," he said softly.

I stared at him. "So hurting me emotionally will just have to do?"

"You know it isn't like that," he said. "I can't see you like this, Katie."

"If you want to go, go," I said. "Nothing's stopping you."

"I don't _want_ to," he said. "It would be safer for you."

"Then I guess that's your decision to make, isn't it?" I said, looking him square in the eyes.

I could see the pain in his eyes. Hell, I could feel the pain in my heart.

"I…need some time to figure everything out," he said. "I'll stay here with you, of course, I wouldn't be able to leave you here, but I need time to think things over."

"Don't feel obligated to stay here," I said.

"I'm going to stay with you until you're out," he said, voice strong. I knew he wouldn't back down.

I didn't exactly know what to say, so I said the first thing that popped into my head.

"Why are you even thinking this way, Paul?" I asked. "It can't only be because I didn't let you drive me home last night. I don't believe that."

"I've seen what Sam has done to Emily…I would never be able to live with myself if I did something like that to you," he said quietly. "My temper is worse than Sam's and Jared's, if anything happened to you because of me…because of what I am…" he trailed off.

"If anything happens to me, it's going to happen, Paul," I said. "It wouldn't be your fault."

"But how do you know?" he pressed.

"I don't," I said simply. And it was true. But even if he did hurt me, it wouldn't make me want to leave him. That wouldn't happen.


	10. Chapter 10: Surprise

**Chapter 10: Surprise**

I hadn't seen Paul since I left the hospital.

Two weeks ago.

He had decided that he was too much of a threat to me, so he cut off all contact with me. It was killing me.

Every single time I went into work, I hoped I would see him around somewhere. I hoped that he would pop up out of the blue and speak to me. I knew that it was wishful thinking, but I couldn't help but want it. I wanted so badly to speak with him again. Once in a while I'd see one of the guys roaming around near the restaurant, but other than that nothing. None of them would come speak to me, and I didn't approach any of them.

I knew my mom wanted so badly to ask me what had happened. I'm sure she could clearly see the change in my mood lately, but in all honesty, I couldn't bring myself to tell her and she never asked. Whenever I'd come home from work, she'd ask how my shift was, and I'd answer. From the look on her face I could tell she wanted me to tell her more, but what could I say? How could I explain what had happened between Paul and me? How could I explain that he, as a wolf, held himself responsible for what had happened to me from a vampire?

I knew that I couldn't tell anyone what the Cullens or what the guys in La Push were, so how could I tell my mom what had happened? As far as she was concerned, we had just broken up.

The thought of that stung me. Were we broken up? I mean, he hadn't said anything to me….he could at least have the decency to tell me it was over.

Anger shot through me as I carried a plate of food to a table with a family of four people. How could Paul be so ridiculous?! Didn't I at least deserve to be told that we were over?

I took my break with Mark and sat with him outside. Since Paul had stopped talking to me, I had started smoking more again. I took a few drags out of my cigarette and tried to ease the tension from my body.

"So, how's the boyfriend?" Mark asked after taking a drag from his cigarette.

I gave Mark a dark look. "Hasn't spoken to me since I got out of the hospital."

"What?" he asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"He's blaming himself for what happened to me…at the Cullen house," I said.

"But why does he blame himself?" he asked. "He had nothing do with it."

"Boys!" I said in frustration.

He chuckled. "We're playing for the same team, honey; I know how it is too."

"It's just frustrating," I said. "I mean, he didn't have the decency to actually tell me that we were over. It's like we're still together but in some kind of fight. He hasn't called me, hasn't texted me, hasn't spoken to me at all. He just cut contact altogether."

"It's too bad that the best looking ones are always the worst ones," he said.

I sighed. "I know."

Mark looked over my shoulder. "Well, speak of the devil."

I turned to see Paul coming towards us.

"I guess you're in luck today, I'll give you two some privacy." He got up and went back inside.

"Thanks," I whispered. Why did I find it so hard to talk all of a sudden? Not even two minutes ago I had been absolutely pissed off at Paul. Shouldn't I still be?

By this point, Paul had reached the little picnic table that was behind the restaurant. He sat down where Mark had been sitting. I looked at him, waiting for him to say something.

"How are you?" he asked finally.

"I'm okay, how are you?" I asked.

"I'm alright."

We were both quiet. He had his eyes locked onto mine, so I couldn't look away from him if I wanted to.

"You came here for a reason," I said. "What was it?"

He took a deep breath. "I needed to see you."

"Well, you can see me right now," I said, I had my guard up. He hadn't spoken to me into weeks, now all of a sudden he came back to see me?

"I can feel that you're hostile," he said quietly, looking away from me. "I'm sorry." I didn't say anything. "You know that I blame myself for what happened…deep down I know it wasn't really my fault…it could've happened to anyone…but I know that I could have prevented it."

"Why haven't you spoken to me?" I asked.

"I hoped if I stopped speaking to you it would break the imprint." Ouch. That stung.

Through the pain of what he had said, I felt anger. "You could have told me you were breaking up with me."

"I figured it was easier this way," he said.

"No, it isn't easier this way," I said angrily. "Because every day I thought that you'd call me or text me, or _something_! If I had known that it was over I wouldn't have bothered waiting around. I wouldn't have bothered tricking myself into thinking that you would call me."

I looked away from him. A thought struck my mind that scared me a bit. Briefly, I considered moving in with my dad. Just leaving behind Forks and starting fresh.

But then I thought about my mom, how could I leave her behind? And was I _really _willing to leave Forks just because of one person? No.

"Maybe I don't want it to be over, Katie," he said. "I just can't hurt you anymore."

"The only thing you've done to hurt me is ignore me," I said. "I have to get back to work. Goodbye, Paul."

I stood up and went to go back into the restaurant, but before I could go back inside he grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him. He didn't say anything as he grasped my face and kissed me. Hard. I had never felt such passion in a kiss before in my life. I could feel his love for me in that kiss, it was still there, deep down. He still loved me. Somewhere, deep inside of him, he still loved me; he just didn't want to admit it to me.

But I was still mad at him.

Or was I?

He let go of me. "I really am sorry, Katie."

I was confused. That kiss had shaken me up. I was flustered and suddenly nervous all over.

"I…I have to get back to work," I said, pushing past him and going back into the restaurant. I went to my section and looked to see if there were any customers sitting in it. There wasn't any, so I went to the kitchen.

"How did it go?" Mark asked, flipping a burger.

I didn't answer him, I looked away. I didn't know what to say. That kiss had left me shaky and confused. I still wasn't sure what to do with myself.

"That bad?" Mark asked.

"I don't even…I don't know what…" I trailed off; my mind was a jumbled mess.

He turned to look at me, concern clouding his face. "What happened?"

"He and I were just talking, and then I went to come back in here and he kissed me," I said quietly. "It just confused me…I still don't really know what to do with myself."

He looked at me sympathetically. "Why don't you go home sick? It's a slow day, I'm sure no one will mind."

I took a deep breath. "I don't really want to."

"Honey, don't worry. If I could take the day off too, I would, but I'm the only cook in today," he said. "I'm sure the boss won't mind. He isn't even in today. Just ask Diana to cover for you."

"I feel bad asking. She covered for me while I was in the hospital. I owe her big time."

Mark sighed. "Just chill back here for a bit, until you have your thoughts together and until you have a table to tend to."

"Thanks Mark, I think I'll do that."

"I cannot wait to get my own restaurant," he said, seeming to sense that I didn't want to talk about Paul anymore. "It'll actually have a nice kitchen-that's well working…with good stovetops and a fridge that actually opens and closes without getting stuck."

I smiled. I could picture it; I knew that it would make Mark _so _happy to have his own restaurant.

"How close are you to getting your own restaurant?"

"Five-thousand dollars away," he said. At the look on my face he started talking again. "I know it seems like a lot-I have fifteen thousand saved up."

"Just from working here?" I asked in surprise.

He nodded. "I've got two cooking jobs, every penny earned from this one goes to my restaurant fund, and every penny from the other job goes to everything else I need or want, and even some money from my other job goes to this."

"Wow, how long did it take you to get that much?"

"Three years." He said. "The way I see it, I can get the new restaurant up and running within two years. It'll take me another year to save everything up, then there's just the task of buying all the appliances, renting the place, et cetera."

"I can't wait," I said. "I'll be glad to get out of this restaurant."

"Trust me, you aren't the only one."

I smiled at him, but really my mind was in other places. I couldn't get Paul out of my mind. That kiss earlier…it had messed me up completely. The way he had held my face…the way he kissed me…I couldn't get it out of my mind. I couldn't get him out of my mind. No matter what I did, I couldn't get him out of my head. I even helped Mark cook, but even that couldn't get Paul out of my head.

I spent the rest of my shift in the kitchen with Mark. Barely anyone came into the restaurant, if anyone had come in at all. Mark had been right; it was a slow day today.

When my shift was over I half expected to see Paul waiting out by my car.

Paul wasn't there- Sam was.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Go talk to him," he said gruffly.

"He doesn't want to talk to me."

"Trust me, he does," he said.

"I can't take another half conversation like the one we had earlier," I said. "We barely spoke. I can't go through that again."

"He won't be the first one to speak. You're going to have to get it out of him. He doesn't like sharing his feelings much, but he can't hide his thoughts from us."

I sighed. "Where is he?"

"His apartment," he said. "Try to be nice to him." Sam walked away and I got into my car.

To be honest, I didn't really want to go see Paul. After what had happened today with him, I just didn't feel up to it.

I deliberated in my car for a while, then made my decision.


	11. Chapter 11: Talk

**I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOOFED!**** I FINALLY get around to posting a new chapter, and I post the wrong one. THIS is the correct chapter for this story, sorry for the confusion.**

**Chapter 11: Talk**

I sat on my bed at home, regretting my decision to not go and see him. I had almost gone to see him, but at the last minute I turned around and came home. I was angry. I was angry with both myself and him. I was angry with him because of how he had confused me today. That kiss had shaken me up and it scared me. I wanted so badly to go and sort things out with him, it was unreal. It made me feel so weak. It made me feel like I constantly needed him, which I didn't.

But I knew that he did. I knew that Paul needed me; I knew that being away from him was driving him crazy.

Guilt stabbed at me. I should have gone to see him. How could I do this to him? I got off my bed and went downstairs to the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Mom asked.

_Shit. _I turned to look at her, stomach doing somersaults.

"I…I have to go see Paul."

She shook her head. "No. I will not allow you to go see him this late at night, Katherine."

"Mom, I'm still not back at school though, and my curfew is eleven thirty. It's only nine o'clock. Why can't I go?"

"Because for the past two weeks you've been moping around missing him, and now you're just going to run back to him like it's nothing?" she said-I could hear the anger in her voice.

"Mom it's-"

"Complicated?" she asked, cutting me off. "Listen, Katherine, I tried to like him-you know I did, don't give me that look-but every time you've come home this week you've been so upset and I know that it's because of him."

"Mom, it's hard to explain," I tried.

"Try," she said, crossing her arms tightly over chest.

My mind was going a mile a minute. Mom had never been this way with me, she had always been super laid back and chill with everything. Why did it all of a sudden matter to her so much?

And how could I explain what had happened between us? Mom wanted answers, and I can't lie and say that she didn't deserve them.

I had two options, one was to just tell her everything, and the other was to lie my ass off.

I knew which one I had to do; Sam, Paul and Jared…well mostly Sam…would kill me if I told my mom about them. And the Cullens could be in deep trouble if I told my mom about what _they_ were, so I had to lie about it.

"Paul…he thinks that he can hurt me," I began.

"He can," she said, cutting me off.

I went on as if she hadn't said anything. "But I know that he can't, and he won't."

"How can you be so sure?" she pressed.

I shrugged. "I trust him."

"Katie…did he have anything to do with what happened to you when you were in the hospital?" she asked, eye going to the arm that had the very faint crescent shaped scar on it. Immediately I put my hands behind my back, masking the scar. I hadn't explained to her why the scar was such a perfect shape, she hadn't really asked. "Honey, did he _do _something?"

My eyes widened as I realized what she thought had happened. "You think Paul _abused _me?" she didn't say anything, but the look on her face told me everything I needed to know. "Mom, Paul could never…"

"You don't know that," she said. "Everything can change in an instant."

"Mom, look, I know that you think Paul is some dangerous person in a gang, but I promise you he isn't. I wouldn't be with him if he was." Okay, white lie. _Technically _Paul was part of a gang, but not a dangerous gang…well yes they _could_ be dangerous, but they never harmed anyone.

She sighed. "I don't like it Katie, I really don't. And this still doesn't explain why you've been so upset for the past two weeks."

"We…we decided to spend some time apart, but I'm sick of it," I said. "It's for a stupid reason, and I want to fix it."

"You really love him, don't you?" she whispered.

I nodded. "And he really loves me. He hasn't exactly said it in words-nor have I, but I know it's there. I know it sounds ridiculous because we're both only teenagers…but Mom, I really care about him. I think I'm in love with him."

"I remember what it was like in high school…I…I had it with your dad," she said, I could hear warmness return to her voice and I could literally see her face soften. "Paul should come over for dinner sometime…so I can get to know him better."

I smiled. "Can I go see him now?"

She nodded and hugged me. "Go get him back. I won't wait up."

On the way to La Push, I got nervous. What was I going to say to him once I saw him? My hands shook, and I had the inexplicable urge to turn around to go home again.

_No._ I thought sternly to myself. _No. You have to go. You've made it this far. You are _not_ turning back now. Go and get him back, you know you miss him. But this isn't about you needing him, because you don't, he needs you. Otherwise he'll go crazy. He misses you like crazy, and you know you miss him. You need to get this all sorted out, or you'll both go crazy. If he ends it with you, then at least you'll know it's over. This not knowing is driving you crazy._

That little pep talk I gave myself got me all the way to Paul's apartment building. I had wanted to surprise him by just appearing in his apartment, but I didn't have a key. As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw that a key wasn't necessary. He was sitting outside the back door of the building, right where I had parked my car. He didn't even look up, but I knew that he knew it was me. As I got out of my car, he stood up and came over to me.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. I didn't say anything; I just looked up at him through my lashes. I didn't know what to say, so I remained quiet. Finally he whispered, "Say something."

"What's taken you so long?" I asked.

He questioned me with his eyes. There was a hardness in his eyes and voice that I didn't like. This wasn't a good sign. "I told you already…you know I'm dangerous, Katherine."

Who was this? Where had _my_ Paul gone? Anger and anxiety bubbled in the pit of my stomach again. I opted to show my anger. "If you're so dangerous then why the hell did you come and kiss me like that today?"

"Because I can't stay away from you," he snapped, face changing from vulnerable to a carefully composed guarded mask of anger. This wasn't my Paul…but I'd find him in there. I'd get through to him, somehow.

"Isn't that my decision?" I demanded. "If I felt like I was in danger, wouldn't it be _my _decision to stay away from _you_?"

"You don't understand how dangerous I can be," he growled.

"But I know how dangerous you aren't most of the time," I argued, staring into his eyes, trying to find some warmth in their depths. "Paul, how long have I known you?" he didn't say anything. "And remember when I found out what you are?"

"Of course I do," he snapped.

"Then if I thought you were dangerous, why would I be here in front of you?"

He hesitated before answering; I could see the slight bit of anxiety in his eyes. "Because, as I said before, you don't understand how dangerous I can be. You've seen what Sam did to Emily-I could do that to you in an instant. Can't you see this?"

"Why are you so damn frustrating?" I asked. I noticed a small smile tug at his lips, but he masked it quickly and returned his face to his composed mask of anger. "Did you really want to talk to me just to tell me to stay away from you, Paul? Is that why you came to the restaurant today? To tell me to stay away?"

"No," he said. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know why I went there today. It was a mistake, Katherine."

_Ouch_. That stung.

"Fine then, I'll…I'll just leave," I whispered, trying to conceal the tears in my voice. I turned away from him, feeling tears pool in my eyes. I wanted to go home and cry myself to sleep. I felt defeated-rejection stung me. How would I face my mom now? I hung my head and made my way to my car, the reality of the fact that we were over hitting me like a wrecking ball. Paul and I were over. This was it.

Just as I reached my car, he grasped my arm and turned me around so I was facing him again. One of his hands was on my arm, and his other arm was wrapped securely around my waist.

"I made you cry," he whispered, taking his hand off of my arm to caress my face.

I looked away from him, bitterly wondering to myself why I was still here. It was obvious he didn't want me.

"I can't stay away from you," he said. "It goes beyond the imprint, Katie. I just…I can't bear to hurt you."

"That's my decision," I said forcefully, looking into his eyes again. "Paul, ignoring me these past two weeks hurt me more than you could imagine." He flinched. "See what I mean? You know that you hurt me, because it hurt you. Can we stop this, Paul? Please?"

"If I hurt you though…"

"Then I'll need you to be there for me," I said. "The same why Sam is there for Emily."

"But if I stayed away from you, nothing like that would have to happen."

I groaned in frustration. "Fine. Then I'll leave. Goodbye Paul." I knew that he wouldn't let me leave, I was testing him.

I tried to get out of his grip on my waist, but I felt his arm tighten around me. That small action made hope swell in my chest. He still wanted me here.

"Please stay," he whispered; the mask of anger was gone, and I found _my_ Paul again. "Please, Katherine. Don't go…I…" he trailed off, seeming to change his mind as to what he had been going to say. "I don't want to give up on us…but are you _sure_…?" Idly, I wondered what he had actually meant to say before trailing off.

"Are you just going to keep on pushing me away?" I whispered. "Because if that's how it's gonna be…" I trailed off; I didn't know what the end of that sentence was. Would I leave him if that's how it was? Or would I barrel through it and try to make it work? Unfortunately, I knew I'd leave him, and I didn't like that.

"It won't be," he promised without missing a beat. "These past two weeks without you have been awful for me, Katie."

"They've been terrible for me too," I said, briefly letting my guard down, before building it back up again. "But…if we're actually going to go back into this, I need you to promise me something." He looked down at me wearily. "I'm only human, I'm going to get hurt, whether you like it or not. Or whether it's because of what you are, or what the Cullens are. Either way, I'm breakable and I'm going to end up getting hurt. When that happens, I need you to be there for me, not pushing me away or freaking out over every little thing."

He took a deep breath. "I promise you that I'll always be here for you."

He leaned down and claimed my mouth with his. In this kiss he made an unspoken promise to me that he wouldn't leave me again. In an almost animalistic way, he pressed me up against my car and deepened the kiss. I kissed him back with everything I had in me, and his fingers dug into my hips. When I broke away from him we were both breathing heavily.

"I should get home," I whispered.

His grip on my hips tightened slightly, and he looked down at me with such a strong intensity in his eyes. "I don't want you to go. Stay here with me."

My stomach did a somersault. If I stayed the night, I knew where it would inevitably end. Was I ready to take that step with Paul? When I had been with Edward I had been ready to take that step with him, but we hadn't. He was too worried about breaking me. Literally. Would it be the same with Paul?

"I know what you're thinking, and it doesn't necessarily have to be for that," he said. "It's just-I've missed you so much. I need you."

"I'll have to call my mom," I whispered.

"Let's go inside-it's starting to rain harder." I realized now that it had been raining the whole time we were talking out here, how had I not noticed before? I wasn't exactly soaking, but my clothes were sticking to me and my hair was disheveled from the rain.

I grabbed my purse and car keys from inside my car. He put his arm around my shoulders as we walked into the apartment building together. He led me into the elevator and into his apartment. In the small amount of time it took us to get from the elevator to his apartment, a thunderstorm had started outside. Thunder boomed in the sky, and lightning illuminated the night sky. I found myself looking out the window and almost getting lost in watching the rain fall.

"There's no way you're driving home in that," he said, snapping me out of my reverie. I had to call Mom.

I nodded and fished my phone out of my purse. I called my mom and waited.

"Did you get there okay?" she asked, not bothering to say hello.

"Yes Mom, I did," I said. "I'm here, but I don't want to drive home in this weather."

She was quiet for a few moments. "Katherine…"

"Mom, I'm not staying here for _that_," I glanced at Paul to see amusement in his eyes, so I turned away from him. "I just don't want to end up in the hospital again because I couldn't keep control of my car."

"I could come get you…" she trailed off.

"Mom, I'll sleep on the couch if that makes you more comfortable," I said. "Paul…Paul wouldn't try anything like that with me, I trust him."

"I'm guessing you two made it work?" she asked.

"Yep," I said. "Everything's fine."

"Call me tomorrow," she said. "Do you have work?"

"Yeah I do, but I should be home before my shift."

"Alright, see you then-if I'm not working." Oh she was just dying to ask more questions about how it went, I could tell.

"Bye Mom," I said.

"Be careful," she warned. "Bye Katie."

I ended the call to hear Paul chuckling. I turned to look at him. He was sitting on the couch.

"What's so funny?"

"How worried your mom is," he said. "I could never take advantage of you-or anyone for that matter-like that."

"Yeah, but she doesn't know you," I said. "She wants you to come for dinner soon."

"The treaty…" he trailed off.

"I can arrange something with Alice," I said, smiling at him.

"Come sit with me," he said, patting the space on the couch beside him. I sat down beside him and looked up at him.

"Are we okay now?" I couldn't help but ask.

He pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. "We're fine…I hope?"

I grinned at him. "We're fine."

He held me tight against him. "I'm glad."

And for the rest of the evening, we just sat there together. Yeah, we spoke, but there was nothing to distract us-no TV, no mom, and best of all, no Sam.

I felt my eyelids get heavy, and slumped against him. Today work had been super busy; I now realized how exhausted I felt. Also, everything that had happened between Paul and I had worn me out. I felt Paul's posture change slightly, and I looked up to meet his eyes.

"Come on, let's go to bed," he said.

I snuggled closer to him. "But I don't want to move."

He chuckled, and picked me up. "You don't have to move."

"I'll need the bathroom, and hopefully a shirt of yours to wear?" I asked. "My clothes are kinda damp from the rain still; I don't wanna sleep in them."

"Of course," he said. He carried me into his room and dropped me on the bed. He went into his dresser and pulled out a t-shirt for me to wear and tossed it to me. "I'm sure it'll fit." He said dryly.

I playfully rolled my eyes at him and went into his bathroom which was down the hall from his bedroom. I ran some cold water on my face, and stared at myself in the mirror. I looked happy. I could see it in my eyes. I hadn't looked this happy since…since before I had even gone into the hospital. No wonder Mom was so worried about me. The past two weeks I had just looked so sad. I felt more angry than sad, but I guess I now knew what my true emotions had been.

Of course, it'd be natural to be sad about something like this, but in all reality it made me feel weak, and I didn't like that. I stripped out of my jeans and shirt, and threw Paul's shirt on. It almost went to my knees, and I rolled my eyes at myself in the mirror.

Back in the bedroom, I was snuggled close to Paul in the bed. I was _so_ comfy and warm. He was absentmindedly playing with my hair.

"Why'd you date Cullen?" he asked softly. "I've been curious about this for a while."

I looked at him; I wasn't sure how to answer this. I shrugged. "He liked me, I liked him, and it just kinda erupted from there."

"Erupted?" he repeated, shifting uncomfortably. "Did you and him…?" he trailed off and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't mean to sound intrusive-forget I asked."

I felt myself flush. "We didn't. He was too afraid of breaking me…or losing control."

I felt him stiffen. "Losing control?"

It was my turn to shift uncomfortably. "He was afraid of biting me."

"Oh," he said quietly. Great-now his thoughts were probably along the same lines as Edward had.

"What about you?" I asked as lightly as I could. "Any exes I should be worried about?"

He chuckled. "None that you should be worried about per say."

"But exes nonetheless?" I asked.

He nodded. "A few."

"Oh," I said. A few? How much as a few?

He didn't meet my eyes. "One of them was Leah Clearwater-it was brief."

"Leah?" I asked in disbelief.

He nodded, still not meeting my eyes. "It was soon after Sam had broken up with her for Emily…I…she came to me for comfort, and I gave it to her. It only lasted about a week; we realized that we're better off as friends. She's like family." I could tell he had said that last part because he didn't want me to think I had some type of competition with Leah-but I knew I wouldn't. I liked Leah-the few times I had met her-and I knew that she and Paul were like siblings.

"Did you and her…" I trailed off. "Have you…?" I trailed off again. My brain to mouth filter was obviously not working at the moment. God, why was I doing this? This was _too _embarrassing-for both of us.

"Not with Leah," he said. I could tell he was super uncomfortable. _Yeah, join the club buddy._

He gazed down at me, gauging my reaction. I tried to keep my face as composed as possible.

_Who was it?_ My mind was screaming at me to ask him, but I couldn't bring myself to ask. _Ask him who it was! _No no no. I didn't want to ask him.

"You don't know her-if that makes it any better for you," he said.

"Did you date her?" I couldn't help but ask. I _needed_ to know that. Paul didn't seem like a one-night-stand type of guy.

He nodded.

My mind was burning with questions. The first question in my mind was who the girl was. The other, how many girls had he dated before?

An uncomfortable awkward silence fell between us. I could tell he was thinking deeply about what we had just talked about.

He cupped my face in his hands. "I promise you that I'll never leave you again, Katie."

I smiled at him. "That means a lot to me."

"Never leave me," he whispered. I could hear the desperation clear in his voice.

I took a deep breath. "I can't promise that."

"Why?" he whispered, face falling and making my heart squeeze painfully.

"Because…we need to work through some more things, Paul," I said. "I can't promise you something that I can't keep."

He nodded. "I understand completely. I was an ass to you. I can see why you'd be…hesitant. We'll work to it."

I pressed my lips against his. "I'm glad we're okay now."

He chuckled. "I'm glad we are too."

And with that, I rested my head against his shoulder, and fell fast asleep.


	12. Chapter 12: Love

**Chapter 12: Love**

"Don't go to work today," Paul whispered, nuzzling my neck. "Call in sick, stay here with me."

"I wish I could," I said.

"Why can't you?" he asked, meeting my eyes.

"Mom would kill me," I said.

"She'd never have to know."

I took a deep breath. "Knowing her, she'd find out."

He looked disappointed. "I'm not ready to let you go yet."

"I don't start work until four," I said. "You don't have to let me go until then."

"I never want to let you go," he said seriously, eyes penetrating mine.

"I know," I whispered. "I don't want to be let go."

"I thought…" he trailed off, and took a deep breath. "I thought I was going to have to let you go."

I touched his face. "I thought I had lost you. When I saw you yesterday…you looked so distant and cold. I'm glad you're back now."

He tightened his hold on me. "I don't think I'd have the strength to stay away from you again, Katie." I didn't know what to say to him; so I looked away. He turned my face back to his and kissed me. "I don't ever want to lose you again."

"You won't," I said, though I knew it wasn't genuine. I couldn't guarantee that Paul wouldn't lose me again. How could I promise him something like that? Last night's conversation seeped into my mind again. I wanted to know who the girl had been. I don't know why it was bothering me so much, but I needed to know. Taking a deep breath, I asked, "What was her name?"

"You're still on that?" he asked quietly, looking away from me.

"I know I shouldn't be," I said.

"I can see why you are, though," he said.

"If you don't want to tell me, it's okay," I said. "I shouldn't have asked-I don't need to know."

"Her name's Rachel," he said. I met his eyes, surprised. He was actually telling me this? "She's Jake's sister. We were together for a few years, everyone was sure I had imprinted on her-hell for a while there I thought I had too. I was with her before I even started phasing. When I _did_ start phasing, it took me a while to realize that she wasn't the girl for me. Sam and Jared had explained imprinting to me, and I realized that I didn't have it with Rachel. I stayed with her for a while after I started phasing, but it felt like I was lying to her. The timing couldn't have been more perfect because soon after that she had to leave for school, so we just ended it. I'm pretty sure she knew that I hadn't imprinted on her-but we just never spoke about it." I was quiet. He had been with this girl for _years_ before me, they had all thought he had imprinted on her. He met my eyes again. "Don't worry about her, Katie. That's all in the past."

I plastered a smile on my face. "I'm not, and I know it is. I should probably get going, I told my mom I'd be home before work today."

I saw his face fall. "I don't want you to go."

"I don't want to go either, but I should," I said. "I gotta shower and stuff before work."

"There's a shower here," he said without missing a beat. "Please, Katie, I've missed you."

"Okay," I said finally. "I'll stay." The grin on his face made me forget about any uncertainty I had. His grin made my heart squeeze and made me remember why I loved him so much.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

I snuggled closer to him. "I'm more comfortable than I am hungry."

He chuckled. "I know how you feel."

"I thought your appetite was never ending," I teased.

"When it comes to you, everything else takes a backseat," he said quietly.

I closed my eyes and rested my head against him, taking comfort in his warmth. I felt so warm and cozy; I didn't ever want to move. He kissed me once more and then we both fell asleep again, dozing the morning away.

When I woke up, Paul was still asleep. I glanced at the clock and practically jumped out of bed. It was three-thirty. I only had half an hour to get to work. Panic seeped into me. Paul woke up, but I was already out of bed and rushing to get out of the house.

"Where you going?" he asked, disoriented.

"I have to be at work in half an hour," I said.

"The chef, Mark, called and he told me to tell you not to come into today, apparently your boss is closing up early," he said.

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure he did."

He tossed my phone at me. "Check the call history; call him if you don't believe me."

I checked the call history, and sure enough, Mark had called. I quickly called him to make sure the restaurant was actually being closed early, and he confirmed it.

"Don't you trust me?" Paul asked playfully when I was off the phone, and back in his bed, securely wrapped in his arms.

I rolled my eyes playfully at him. "Of course I do, I just had to make sure. Don't wanna get fired, ya know?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I know-but you should know," his tone had gone serious. "I won't ever lie to you. You can be confident in knowing that, Katie."

"I do know that." I looked up at him and met his eyes. "I don't ever want to hurt you, Paul."

"The feeling's mutual," he said, smiling softly.

I took a deep breath before admitting, "I'm scared of hurting you, Paul."

"Don't think like that," he scolded lightly.

"I try not to," I said. "But it's hard. I know how in tune you are with me, and it scares me. It makes me think…it makes me think I'm not good enough for you. It makes me think that I'll end up hurting you."

"Don't ever think that you aren't good enough for me," he said. "I'm with you for a reason, and it's because I…" he hesitated. "It's because I'm imprinted on you, and that doesn't mean I'm "obligated" to stay with you, it's because I care about you, and I want to be with you. Don't you ever think that you aren't good enough for me, it's the other way around, Katie. I'm the one who isn't good enough for you."

"Why would you say that?" I gasped.

"Because it's true," he said. "Before you were with me, you were with Cullen. Do you have any idea how intimidating that is? I always worry that I'm going to fuck up and that you're gonna dump me to go back to him. I was so worried over the past two weeks that I'd lost you forever; I didn't want that, not at all, but I was worried that you'd move on. It was literally eating away at me. I couldn't take being away from you anymore, that's why I came to the restaurant."

"Paul, stop thinking like that. If I had some problem like that with you, I wouldn't be here. Stop thinking that you aren't good enough, because you are."

"I love you so much, Katie," he whispered, burying his face in my neck and kissing it. _He said it, he actually said it._

"I love you too, Paul," I whispered, bringing his face up to mine. Our mouths connected and moved together. Our tongues moved together and I felt him grip my hips tightly. He hesitated when he realized how serious this was getting.

"I'm sure," I whispered.

"I could hurt you," he said.

"I trust you," I said. He bent his head back to mine and kissed me again, and then we made love to each other, and it made me realize how much we truly did love each other. I never wanted to leave Paul's side. I wanted to be with him forever.


	13. Chapter 13: Understanding

**Chapter 13: Understanding**

I was lying against Paul's chest, listening to the steady sound of his heart beating. I felt so calm and at ease here with him, and I was so happy that we had finally worked everything out.

"I know you probably don't want to be thinking about this right now," he started. "But are you in any pain?"

I shook my head, smiling up at him. "I'm fine." I snuggled close to him again and closed my eyes, feeling elated. He ran a hand through my hair and rubbed my shoulder in a circular motion soothingly.

A knock at Paul's door made both of us jump, and a small growl escaped his chest. "If that's Sam I'll rip his damn head off." He got out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. He left the bedroom to go to the front door.

"Where is she?" _Oh shit. _That was my mom's voice. How did she get here?! How the hell had she found out where Paul lived? I looked over the side of the bed and saw Paul's shirt, but just as I was reaching to grab it to put it on, she came into Paul's room.

"Thanks for answering my calls," she snapped.

The only word to describe what I felt was mortified. "_Mom!_"

"Do you have _any_ idea how worried I was, Katherine?" she demanded. I clutched the blankets on the bed close to me. "Get dressed; I'll be waiting by my car." She stormed out of Paul's apartment without another word. I picked Paul's shirt up off the floor and put it on. I wandered out of Paul's bedroom to see him standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"I'm sorry about-" he began.

"No," I said. "It's my fault. I'm sorry. I should've called her. I have to go. I…I'll call you when I can."

"If you ever need some place to stay, or live, even, my door is open for you. You know that," he said.

"I do know that. Thank you, Paul. I'll try not to take too long to see you again. I don't want to be away from your for that long again," I said. He pecked me on the lips and I left his apartment, knowing the scene that was awaiting me with my mom would be absolutely brutal. She was leaning against her car with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"If I say that I'm sorry will that make this any better?" I asked.

"No," she said. "Why aren't you at work? And why didn't you call me?"

"I'm not at work because Mark called and said that Chris was closing the place down for the day because it was a slow day, and I forgot to call you. I really am sorry, Mom. I meant to come home, but…" I trailed off.

"I just found you naked in your boyfriend's bed. Sorry isn't going to cut it," she snapped. "Get in your car and drive home. We'll talk more about this when we get there."

For the entire drive home, I tried to think up some excuse that would explain why I had been naked in Paul's bed and why he had been half naked when he answered the door. While I was stopped at a red light, I held my head in my hands. This was just going to a mess that I wouldn't want to deal with at all. I just wanted to dig a hole and bury my head in it so I wouldn't have to deal with the scene awaiting me at home.

When I got there, Mom was already inside, and I knew exactly what I was going to say. I was nervous as hell about it, but I knew that it had to be done. I sat in the car for a few minutes, taking deep breaths, nervousness knotting deep in my stomach. When I finally gathered the courage to go inside, I went in and found my mom sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for me.

"Mom, before you say anything, let me talk," I said, sitting across from her. She didn't look as angry now, but I could still see anger clearly on her face. "The whole drive here, I tried to think up some story to tell you that would explain everything, but I couldn't come up with anything, and it's honestly just better to tell you the truth. Obviously you know what happened between us, or at least you can guess, and you're probably right about it."

She took a deep breath. "Did you feel pressured to do it?"

"No, not at all," I said immediately.

"Were you safe?"

"Yes," I lied. _Oh shit, we didn't use a condom. Stay calm; just get through this with her_.

"Last night, when you said you weren't staying there for _that_, did you lie to me?"

I shook my head. "No, he even slept on the couch; he wouldn't let me sleep on it." God, another lie, I had hoped to not lie at all. "This morning when we woke up he and I were talking, and then we fell asleep in his room. Then when we woke up he told me about Mark calling and telling me about how I didn't have to go into work and…it...it happened. And then a while after that was when you came. Mom, I really am sorry, I should've called you, I know. I don't know how I didn't hear your calls, but I know that it was wrong of me. I'm sorry."

"Why are you wearing his shirt?" she asked.

"My clothes are still wet. Last night we were talking outside, and I didn't realize how hard it was raining until he mentioned it, so he gave me a shirt of his to wear."

She took a deep breath. "Well, I suppose I should either forbid you from ever seeing him again or kick you out of this house." Nervousness flared in my stomach. No, she wouldn't. She couldn't. "But, I'm not a bitch, and I get it. I was sixteen when I had you, so I know what it's like. Just, promise me you'll be safe?"

"I promise," I said immediately. "Mom, thank you so much for understanding."

She smiled at me. "Don't mention it."

After that I went upstairs, relief flooding into me. I quickly sent Paul a text letting him know that everything was okay.

Everything _was _okay, and for the first time in weeks I felt like my life was being put back together again.


	14. Chapter 14: Surprise

**Chapter 14: Surprise**

"Can I get you boys anything else?" I asked, going over to their table.

"Nah, we're good, just the bill," Paul said, sending a quick smile my way. It had been three weeks since that ugly scene with my mom, and Paul and I were stronger than ever. I know it sounded cheesy, but it was true. We were so much stronger now than we had been even before I got injured.

"I'll be right out with it," I said. I went to the kitchen to see if I had any more plates to take to tables and heard Mark whistle.

"Glad to see you and boyfriend sorted everything out," he said, wagging his eyebrows at me.

I felt my face heat. "I am too."

He chuckled. "You're in trouble." I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him, but I didn't say anything. He clicked his tongue at me. "Serious, serious trouble."

I grabbed the bill for Paul, Jared, and Sam, and took it out to their table. I held it out to them and Sam took it from me.

"Oh, Sam, you're treating them to lunch today?"

Jared and Paul sent him smug looks. Jared said, "We beat him in a race, so he owed us."

I felt a smile spread across my face. "Really, Sam?"

"They tripped me," he grumbled.

Paul and Jared erupted into laughter while Sam paid me. As they were leaving and I was waiting to wipe off their table, Paul grasped my wrist.

"What are you doing after work?"

I shrugged. "I think my mom wanted me home tonight."

He sighed. "I can't wait until you can move out. I hate saying bye to you every night."

"I do too," I said. "But we both have to get back to work. Go, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye babe," he said, kissing my cheek and leaving the restaurant. After they were gone, my shift _dragged_. It seemed to take forever for it to be over, and when it finally was over, I remembered that I wouldn't be seeing Paul tonight, which irritated me.

I know it sounded like I was being a clingy girlfriend, but I just wanted to be around him. After everything that had happened between us, we were finally in a good spot. I knew that it was just a matter of time before something came along and messed everything up again. As I drove home, I wondered what I would do tomorrow. I only had two weeks of summer vacation left–that made me unbelievably sad. I wasn't ready to go back to school. I didn't want to at all. I had thoroughly enjoyed my summer vacation, excluding my trip to the hospital and the two weeks without Paul.

I pulled up to the house to see that there was another car other than my mom's in the driveway, and my stomach did a little flip. Who was here? Since the driveway was full, I had to park on the street. Rain hit my head as I walked up my driveway and into the house.

I had to blink a few times to full grasp the scene ahead of me.

My dad was sitting in the living room on the couch across from the chair where my mom was sitting. As soon as I walked in, he looked up at me, and my mom turned to look at me as well.

"What are you doing here?" I blurted.

"Katie…sit down," Mom said, motioning to the couch. She didn't sound angry, but she sounded very serious. Too serious. My stomach flipped again. I hoped that her serious tone was just because of the unannounced visit from my dad, and not something worse.

I sat at the end of the couch away from my dad and looked between the two of them. Were they getting back together? Maybe they were giving their marriage another chance?

More importantly–what the hell was going on?

"Katie, your dad thinks it would be beneficial for you to live with him…for at least a semester of school," Mom said.

My stomach dropped. "What?"

"I really want you to come live with me, Katherine," he said. "I haven't been part of majority of your life. I want to be part of it now. I want to make up for that."

I shook my head slowly. "No…no, I like it here." I turned to my mom. "What do you think about this?"

"It's up to you," she said. "I'm not going to try to make this decision for you, it isn't my place."

"Dad, I'm sorry, but I don't want to move in with you," I said.

He sighed. "At least come back for the remainder of your break?"

I took a deep breath. "I don't know if I'll be able to get time off work."

"Katie, I think you should go with him," Mom said. At my desperate look she clarified, "Not for a whole semester of school, for the rest of your break. Enjoy the warm weather for your last few days of freedom. We all know Forks isn't exactly known for its good weather. I think it'll be good for you to get away–especially in light of recent events." Her eyes lingered on my arm that had the scar from when I had bitten.

"Yeah, Katherine, it'd be good for you to get out of Forks for a bit," Dad interjected.

"I don't know if I can get time off work," I said.

"Try," he urged. "I'm here until tomorrow, and then I was hoping you could just fly back with me."

I took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll try to get some time off."

His face split into a grin and he got up. "Call me and let me know, I'll see you tomorrow–hopefully."

I nodded. "I will."

Mom got up too. "It was nice to see you again, Jack."

"You too, Trisha," he said, giving her a quick hug.

"Katie, you should walk him out," Mom said. "You have to move your car into the driveway, don't you?"

I nodded, looking between them. I noticed something in my dad's eyes–was that regret? Remorse? Sadness? I wasn't sure. "Yeah…okay."

I led my dad out to the front porch and looked at him. It was raining steadily and I didn't want to have to walk through that to get to my car.

"I haven't talked to you since your accident–are you sure you're alright? Your mom told me what happened," he said.

I met his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"She called me and told me what happened while you were…recovering," he said with slight hesitation in his voice. "She was really worried about you. She almost told me to come up here and try to help out."

"She did?" I asked. I was surprised. Had I really been _that_ bad?

He nodded. "Like I said, she was really worried about you. But, don't tell her I told you. I don't think she wanted you to know that she considered it." I nodded. I could understand that. If I knew that she had almost asked him to come here, she'd think that it'd be like she was giving up on me. "I should probably get back to my hotel. Can you please try to come back with me? The flight doesn't leave until tomorrow night. Let me know, okay?"

"I promise I'll try, but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to come," I said.

"That's all I'm asking from you." He pulled me into a quick hug and then we both went down the front steps and went to our respective cars. I watched from my car as my dad pulled out of the driveway in his rental car and drive away.

I sighed. What the hell was I going to do?!


End file.
